As the second heat wave sets in, South Bay health officials are sounding the alarm.
On Tuesday night, the Santa Clara County Chief Medical Examiner confirmed that they are looking into whether 14 recent deaths in the area were heat related.
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan last week posted on social media that a homeless person died in the city due to the heat.
Shaunn Cartwright with the Unhoused Response Group said she looks at the Santa Clara County Coroner’s Office dashboard often especially during heat waves.
She noticed that from July 1 to July 8, five people who were unhoused died, their cause of death has not been listed.
“There’s other times, you go a week and there’s not an unhoused death,” she said.
As the Bay Area enter another heat wave, the experts are warning things can go from concerning to catastrophic in no time.
“It’s very uncommon to see heat-related deaths but when they do occur, the change from when somebody is not feeling quite well to doing very poorly is very rapid,” said Dr. Peter Chin-Hong with UCSF.
That’s why it’s important to recognize the signs and symptoms, Chin-Hong to watch out for feet and leg swelling, dizziness, nausea, vomiting and a headache.
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The Santa Clara County Chief Medical Examiner said confirming the cause of death in those 14 cases could take some time.
