Las Vegas area's 2024 heat death toll swells to nearly 500

Alan Halaly, Las Vegas Review-Journal on Dec 2, 2024

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LAS VEGAS — Nearly 500 deaths in the Las Vegas area can be attributed to the region’s record summer, according to data released Monday by the Clark County coroner’s office.

Deaths this year where heat was a factor now total 491, though such a count is yet to be finalized as investigators close out cases in a process that takes up to 90 days.

It’s a 58 percent increase from the 2023 count of 309, which can partially be attributed to evolving standards that guide how the coroner determines when heat played a role in someone’s death. Another reason is that Southern Nevada experienced a summer hotter than any other on record because of climate change, reaching an all-time record of 120 degrees in July.

Melanie Rouse, who became the Clark County coroner in 2021, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal in past interviews that spikes in the use of opioids such as fentanyl and heroin coincide with higher heat-related death numbers.

The Review-Journal recently investigated rising rates of heat-related death in “A fatal forecast,” a series dedicated to honoring those lost to increasing temperatures and exploring what local leaders can do to prevent more deaths as summers get hotter.

What numbers reveal

A deeper look at the demographics does show trends as to who is more susceptible to succumbing to the heat.

The coroner’s office only has released information about 438 people of the total 491. The rest will be identified once relatives have been notified.

The median age of those who have died is 59, a sign of how aging can worsen the body’s ability to regulate its temperature.

Drugs have a similar effect, even on young bodies: Almost every heat-related death of someone 40 or younger has some form of drug or alcohol use listed as a primary or contributing factor. The youngest person listed is 22.

It’s not clear from the data how many of the dead may have been homeless, but experts say the cumulative toll of heat that homeless people experience throughout the day can be lethal.

Southern Nevada is brainstorming solutions

Aside from hoping for a cooler summer in 2025, to prevent such an inflated heat-related death toll in the future, leaders are considering how cooling centers can be more effective.

One solution they have floated is the possibility of opening some cooling centers 24 hours a day.

Efforts are underway to increase the Las Vegas Valley’s thin tree canopy, as well, to combat the urban heat island effect, where some neighborhoods suffer hotter temperatures due to a lack of green spaces.

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