FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Aug. 8, 2006

Heat claims three more residents

The extreme heat has claimed three more Kansas City, Mo., residents, bringing the total of heat-related deaths this year to six.

The fourth case involved a 9-year-old boy who was trapped in the trunk of a car July 2. He died five days later due to complications from heat stroke at Children's Mercy Hospital. No other details are available.

The fifth case involved an 83-year-old woman who was found unconscious in her home July 13 in the area of 17th Street and Newton Street by a neighbor who came to check on her. It is unknown when someone last spoke with her before that. According to reports, the house was not air conditioned and the temperature inside the house was 96 degrees F. The victim had a pre-existing medical condition that may have increased her risk to heat-related illnesses. She died July 19 at Independence Regional Medical Center.

Police found the sixth victim, a 58-year-old man, dead in his apartment in the area of 105th Street and Hickman Mills Drive on Aug. 7 when they went to check on his welfare. The victim's son reported he had not heard from his father, who had a history of medical problems, since July 31 and was unable to reach him. The apartment was not air conditioned and the temperature inside the apartment was 90 degrees F.

The five categories of people at highest risk for heat-related illnesses or death include people with chronic medical conditions or who are disabled; the elderly; the economically disadvantaged; people taking certain medications, including narcotics, sedatives and diuretics; and infants less than 1 year old. At least one of these high-risk indicators may have been factors in the deaths of the 83-year-old woman and the 58-year-old man.

Heat-related deaths are preventable. The City of Kansas City, Mo., Health Department recommends checking on relatives, friends and neighbors who are in one of the five high-risk categories once in the morning and once in the evening during extreme heat conditions.

Keep close watch on children playing outdoors during periods of extreme heat, and encourage them to take frequent breaks out of the high temperatures. If you have any doubts about a person's welfare, call 9-1-1.

There is heat-related information on the Health Department's Web page (www.kcmo.org/health). For information about other heat-related information and resources available to the community, call the United Way 211 line, at 2-1-1 or (816) 474-5112.