“We'll be looking at any patterns ... ages, gender, any underlying health conditions ... the type of facility they lived in, whether it was a condo or a house, and ... where we can make a difference and where we can make some recommendations for change.”
Local coroners, like first responders in the province, struggled with the surge in heat-related calls and the response times, she said.
“Prior to the last few days, we had experienced three deaths in British Columbia due to heat in the last several years,” she said.
“So this, frankly, this caught many of us off guard. Many of our health services are first responders. We haven't experienced anything like this in the province previously.”