B.C. doctors warn province unprepared for next deadly heat wave
Five years after the 2021 heat dome killed hundreds, health experts say vulnerable populations remain at severe risk as a "super El Niño" pattern develops in the Pacific.
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British Columbia is not adequately prepared for the next extreme heat event, according to doctors, nurses, and paramedics who marked the five-year anniversary of the 2021 heat dome on June 29.
Members of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment and Canadian Association of Nurses for the Environment warned that provincial government inaction is putting vulnerable people at risk of death or injury as a "super El Niño" weather pattern develops in the Pacific, pointing toward a hotter and drier late summer than usual in the region.
"We know that increased emissions means increased temperatures and we know increased temperatures means increased death," said Tim Takaro, a member of CAPE and professor emeritus of health sciences at Simon Fraser University. He pointed to France's experience this summer: the country faced its third heat wave of the year, with the second wave starting in mid-June and reaching unprecedented temperatures that caused at least 1,000 excess deaths.
Health experts criticized all levels of government for not divesting from fossil fuels. The City of Vancouver recently renewed its choice to allow new homes to be built with gas-powered heating.
Dr. Melissa Lem, a family physician in Vancouver and past president of CAPE, noted that while some progress has been made—including improvements to the provincial heat alert response system, identification of at-risk people, and creation of cooling centres—these responses are limited to people who can physically access them. "If you're isolated, elderly, or have mobility issues, there's actually no real provincewide mechanism in place to get people to those cooling centres," Lem said.
Dr. Jay Slater, a family physician providing home-based care to frail elders, expressed particular concern for vulnerable populations in the Downtown Eastside, where concentrated poverty, substance use, mental illness, poor-quality housing, and limited access to green space compound the dangers of extreme heat.
