Santa Clara County to increase outreach personnel amid rising potential heat-related deaths
SAN JOSE, Calif. - As the hot temperatures linger around for at least one more day in the Bay Area, the heat is becoming a deadly problem in Santa Clara County.
The County Medical Examiner's Office is investigating 28 potential heat-related deaths since July 1st. For comparison, KTVU reached out to other counties in the Bay Area.
The sheriff's offices in Alameda and Marin counties have reported 0 heat-related deaths so far; Sonoma County reported 1 since the beginning of the month. Other counties, including Contra Costa, have not yet responded to requests for information.
Santa Clara County's Office of Emergency Management opened cooling centers on Wednesday as a heat advisory continued.
VTA is offering free rides to cooling centers—the offer is on the table until Thursday.
"Going forward, we are amping up our outreach efforts with the Office of Supportive Housing," said Charles Harris, spokesperson for the County Office of Emergency Management. "Those efforts have been increased since we've had a longer heat wave this time of year. They are doing those outreach sessions with our unsheltered community members."
The county is increasing outreach personnel to tackle two populations: unhoused communities and senior citizens.
According to the Santa Clara County Medical Examiner's office, of the 28 deaths, eight were unhoused people and 14 were people over the age of 65.
"I think it's important people get these constant reminders about how dangerous the heat can be," said Jeff Scott of San Jose's Housing Department.
The medical examiner's office did not share the cities where the deaths occurred.
In San Jose, about 10-15 outreach members go out every day to speak to unhoused people.
"They are handing out water first and foremost, trying to help people stay hydrated," said Scott. "They are also providing information to our unhoused residents about cooling centers, community centers, rec centers, senior centers, libraries, places people can go during the day to beat the heat."
County-wide, Santa Clara County personnel try to offer as much information as possible to senior centers. Their goal is to connect with a network of seniors who are not placed in homes full time.
"Our office, specifically, we've been giving a lot of resources, hot weather safety tips, different other cooling center information, any type of resource we can give to senior centers in the county," said Harris.
"We have been doing outreach within our office, because they have a huge network of seniors who live in that jurisdiction."
City and county officials say they're not sure why the South Bay is seeing such an increase in potential heat-related deaths. They are waiting for completed investigations from the medical examiner's office to learn more.