Annu Int Conf IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2025 Jul;2025:1-6. doi: 10.1109/EMBC58623.2025.11254676.
ABSTRACT
Global warming is one of the most relevant effects of climate change, and poses a serious hazard for human health, in particular in relation to the cardiovascular system, leading to an increased short-term risk of Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest (OHCA). This study examines this risk increase from a geospatial viewpoint, going beyond pathophysiology, and emphasizing the need for a public health-focused, multidisciplinary approach known as environmental epidemiology. While some solutions have already been proposed (in particular, risk indexing as defined by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC, and the Distributed Lag Non-linear Model, DLNM), they require complex and manifold data (thus limiting replicability), are computationally intensive, and cannot be easily interpreted. To address these gaps, this research introduces a Geospatial Heat-related Risk Index (GHRI) for territorial risk stratification, aiding in efficient Emergency Medical Services (EMS) resource planning. Focusing on Lombardy, Italy, a densely populated region with diverse climates, the study analyzes temperature data from the Regional Agency for Environmental Protection and OHCA records from the Regional Agency for Emergency/Urgency (AREU) between 2017 and 2021. Data were mapped onto 96 Base Statistical Areas (BSAs), each with approximately 100'000 residents. Using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Python, the study finds that heat exposure generally increases OHCA risk, though some areas showed protective or insignificant effects.. The findings highlight the importance of GIS-based environmental epidemiology in climate adaptation policies and emergency healthcare planning, providing actionable insights for public health strategies.Clinical Relevance- The proposed framework allows to identify territories that exhibit higher risk in terms of increased out-of-hospital cardiac arrest incidence during heat days, thus providing valuable information to support planning and management of Emergency Medical Services (EMS). More efficient resources allocation reduces intervention time and increases patients' survival probability, which is particularly critical for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.
PMID:41337320 | DOI:10.1109/EMBC58623.2025.11254676