DEVELOPMENT OF A RISK INDICATOR OF HEATSTROKE BY REPRODUCING PHYSIOLOGICAL RESPONSES OF PATIENTS IN SAITAMA PREFECTURE

Abstract

 We developed an index of heatstroke risk by using the database of heatstroke patients provided by Saitama Prefecture. The index is based on the relationship between the physiological responses of the patients (body core temperature, skin temperature, amount of sweating and blood flow) and cumulative percentage of the patients transported at each level of the physiological responses. The physiological responses were estimated by using meteorological data, an urban canopy model and the heat balance model of human body, considering the individual vulnerability for heatstroke. The indicator was tested with an actual heatstroke patient transported at night in the summer of 2018. Even though the environment where she stayed was not typical of heatstroke, the indicator showed the alert level for heatstroke.