MONTREAL — Quebec health officials say at least 50 people are now believed to have died from heat-related complications.

A spokeswoman for Public Health Minister Lucie Charlebois confirmed the latest figures today as parts of Central and Eastern Canada enveloped in heat are getting a respite with cooler temperatures.

Environment Canada lifted heat warnings for the regions, including Quebec, for the next several days.

While the stifling weather also blanketed Ontario and parts of Atlantic Canada, no deaths have been reported elsewhere, in part because various jurisdictions have different ways of gathering data on heat-related fatalities.</s>Sprinklers, sticky Popsicles and community pools — these are some of the things that come to mind when I recall my childhood summers. Growing up mostly without AC, we’d bear the summer heat while staying hydrated as best as we could.

In the days long before splash pads, a sprinkler was enough to entertain us for hours at a time. We’d run through it shrieking with excitement. If we wanted to be particularly festive, we might even rip up a garbage bag to slide on with water from the hose. Yes, the slip and slide existed back then, but was a frivolous purchase when garbage bags could suffice.

Adult life, however, brings greater responsibilities. As a member of what has come to be called the sandwich generation, I have found myself in a sticky predicament during the recent heat wave. I have been concerned about my elderly father’s health and well-being without proper air conditioning and about my children staying hydrated and not being overly exposed to the heat. We have opened our air-conditioned home up to friends and family needing a place to cool down over the past week and have tried calling relatives to make sure they are taken care of.

It’s been more critical than ever before to reach out to our loved ones to make sure they are safe, cool and hydrated during the intense heat that as of Thursday, had cost 33 lives across Quebec. While Friday promises a return to normal seasonal temperatures, chances are that we’ll suffer at least one more heat wave before the end of the summer.

This time around, I have been impressed with the city of Montreal’s proactive response; it should become standard practice. Opening up municipal buildings, extending pool and splash pad hours and even setting up city sprinklers for residents to cool off at have been excellent initiatives.

Even so, some people may not know about local community efforts, or may not avail themselves of them for any number of reasons. Those who are isolated, experiencing health problems, mentally unstable or lonely may not consider forcing themselves out of their homes to escape the heat. That’s why outreach to our friends and neighbours, as Mayor Valérie Plante urged, is so important.

Another municipal official who made the right call was Pierrefonds-Roxboro Borough Mayor Jim Beis. When Beis announced he would be cancelling the Canada Day parade out of concern for the well-being of participants, he drew the ire of some residents. They complained that city officials were overly cautious and that if they merely gave out water, we should be OK to proceed. However, the sweltering weather on Canada Day proved that the city had in fact, made the right call in cancelling a parade that would have had volunteers and entertainers walk the four-kilometre course in heavy non-breathable costumes.
• Heat wave: 33 Quebecers have died, 18 in Montreal, health officials say
• As Montreal heat wave continues, emergency teams going door to door

This is not a whole lot different than a severe cold snap. Any form of severe weather can be deadly.

As for how to deal with stubborn family members who insist they are OK without air conditioning: Taking them to the movies, inviting them over for a meal or just taking them to the mall are great excuses to make sure everyone stays safe.

When the temperature soars, we all need to play a role in reaching out to our friends and family. Generally speaking, people don’t want to impose. Sometimes merely posting on social media for family and friends to reach out if they don’t have air conditioning can go a long way.

So when there’s a heat wave, continue sipping on the slushy drinks, but be sure to check in to make sure your loved ones are safe, as if their lives depended on it. Because they do.

Fariha Naqvi-Mohamed is the founder and editor in chief of CanadianMomEh.com, a lifestyle blog.</s>MONTREAL — Quebec health officials say at least 54 people are now believed to have died from heat-related complications.

The office of Public Health Minister Lucie Charlebois released the latest figures Friday as parts of Central and Eastern Canada enveloped in heat received a respite with cooler temperatures.

Montreal was the area of the province with the highest number of victims, the government said, with 28 people dying from heat-related complications.

Environment Canada has lifted heat warnings for the affected regions, including Quebec, for the next several days.

The temperature is set to rise again in Montreal by the end of the weekend, however, with the humidex expected to reach up to 36 C for Sunday and Monday.

While the stifling weather also blanketed Ontario and parts of Atlantic Canada, no deaths have been reported elsewhere, in part because various jurisdictions have different ways of gathering data on heat-related fatalities.

While hot weather is expected to remain in Quebec next week, Serge Mainville of Environment Canada said it will be a dry heat.

Montreal-area paramedics weren't expecting a big drop-off in calls on Friday despite the more bearable conditions.

Stefan Overhoff, chief operating officer at Urgences-sante ambulance service, said people who've endured the heat for several days could still be susceptible to health problems.

The service, which covers Montreal and nearby Laval, experienced a sharp increase in the number of calls over the last week.</s>The heat wave that has enveloped much of Central and Eastern Canada has contributed to at least 33 deaths in Quebec.

“We’re doing the best that we can do,” Quebec’s Public Health Minister Lucie Charlebois said at a press conference Thursday. “You know, we’re living something special. In French we say, ‘C'est une situation exceptionnelle.’”

With temperatures exceeding 30 degrees Celsius, Environment Canada heat warnings have been in effect for large swathes of Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia for much of the past week. The extreme heat is expected to finally abate this evening.

According Dr. Mylene Drouin, regional director of Montreal's public health department, those who died were predominantly men aged 53 to 85 who lived alone and without air conditioning.

“First they have heat stroke, but most of the people who die, they are vulnerable,” Drouin told CTV Montreal. “Or (they have) problems with drugs, or they are intoxicated. So first, they’re dehydrated.”

Those living in poorer areas with less vegetation have been suffering the most during the heat wave, Drouin added during a press conference.

“In the centre of the city where we have more hot spots, where there is less greener areas, we know that compared to what is measured at the meteorological station, we can have a difference of five to 10 degrees,” she explained.

This is not the first time that Quebec has experienced such deadly heat, with more than 100 people dying during another heat wave in 2010.

“I’m not pleased about that,” Charlebois said of her province’s current crisis. “I would not like my mother to die because it’s too hot today.”

To deal with the heat wave, Urgences-sante, Montreal’s emergency medical service, has placed nine additional ambulances on the roads to respond to a 30 per cent spike in calls. At the ongoing Montreal International Jazz Festival, which runs until July 7, the number of on-scene paramedics has been doubled.

Firefighters, meanwhile, have been going door-to-door to check on at-risk people. Such people, Drouin explained, are those with “chronic diseases, mental health issues, people who live alone, (and) people without air conditioning who live in apartments of more than four or six stories.”

Public health officials are also encouraging Montrealers to check on their neighbours, especially if they are elderly.

"I'm satisfied with the work that has been done to help those who are most vulnerable," Drouin said.

Although none of the reported heat-related deaths have occurred at hospitals or long-term care homes, families of patients at facilities like the Sacre-Cœur Hosptal in Montreal are decrying “inhumane” conditions that are seeing their loved ones swelter in rooms that lack air conditioning.

"They're suffering and they're going to be suffering more if there's no air conditioning," Effie Tsatoumas, whose mother is being treated for pneumonia, told CTV Montreal.

According to Tsatoumas, her family was barred by security from bringing a portable air conditioner into her mother’s room.

"I don't understand, for elderly people to have no air conditioning in the state they're in," she said. "I'm healthy and I had a hard time breathing in there."

After suffering from dehydration and going into cardiac arrest, Tsatoumas said her mother was finally moved into the hospital’s intensive care unit -- one of the few parts of the facility that has air conditioning.

"All of our electrical panels are fully loaded, so we have only the essentials for patient care,” Frederic Cossette, the hospital’s director of technical services, said of the aging hospital building. "We're not able to upgrade it now and have enough power to have A/C in all our rooms."

For the remainder of the heat wave, Drouin is advising that patients without air conditioning be taken out of their rooms at least twice a day for two hours.

"There are places that have air conditioning in each hospital and we ask them to give them water and towels (dunked in) cold water,” she said.

The past week has seen some of the hottest temperatures ever recorded in Montreal, said Environment Canada meteorologist Alexandre Parent.

“Having a span of seven days with maximum of above 31 Celsius for Montreal area, I mean this is pretty exceptional,” Parent told CTV Montreal. “Usually these kinds of heat waves, they last for three, four, five days.”

Overnight thunderstorms are expected to finally cool the region down. And although temperatures are forecasted to rise again next week, the weather will likely be much more tolerable.

“There won't be humidity in the air as we have experienced,” Parent explained. “So the humidex index is not going to be a factor.”

Despite experiencing similarly scorching temperatures, other provinces in Central and Eastern Canada have not reported heat-related fatalities, though The Canadian Press suggests that that may be due varying jurisdictional practices in gathering such data.

With a report from CTV Montreal’s Kelly Greig and files from The Canadian Press</s>While temperatures have come down on Friday, public health officials are warning that the Quebec residents should still take precautions in the wake of a week-long heatwave that claimed at least 44 lives throughout the province.

Of the deaths, 28 were in Montreal, many of which occurred in high rise buildings with no air conditioning. Many of the victims suffered from chronic health issues or mental illnesses and lived in areas known as ‘heat island,’ – regions prone to higher temperatures due to a lack of vegetation.

Another nine deaths occurred in the Eastern Townships. The region’s public health director, Melissa Genereux, said seven of them were men, half were middle aged and the rest were senior citizens.

She said the province’s coroners will investigate each death.

“The main purpose of getting these declarations of deaths is each case, the public needs to investigate them and understand if there’s residual risks in the places where these cases come from and if there’s any preventative measures that can be taken,” she said.

While the weather has cooled, Genereux said there are still risks as houses and apartments may take time too cool off. She advised using fans to bring cooler air in from the outside and said anyone suffering from aftereffects from the heat should seek medical care.</s>MONTREAL — Quebec health officials say at least 54 people are now believed to have died from heat-related complications.

The office of Public Health Minister Lucie Charlebois released the latest figures Friday as parts of Central and Eastern Canada enveloped in heat received a respite with cooler temperatures.

Montreal was the area of the province with the highest number of victims, the government said, with 28 people dying from heat-related complications.

Environment Canada has lifted heat warnings for the affected regions, including Quebec, for the next several days.

The temperature is set to rise again in Montreal by the end of the weekend, however, with the humidex rating reaching up to 36 for Sunday and Monday.

While the stifling weather also blanketed Ontario and parts of Atlantic Canada, no deaths have been reported elsewhere, in part because various jurisdictions have different ways of gathering data on heat-related fatalities.

While hot weather is expected to remain in Quebec next week, Serge Mainville of Environment Canada said it will be a dry heat.

Montreal-area paramedics weren't expecting a big drop-off in calls on Friday despite the more bearable conditions.

Stefan Overhoff, chief operating officer at Urgences-santé ambulance service, said people who've endured the heat for several days could still be susceptible to health problems.

The service, which covers Montreal and nearby Laval, experienced a sharp increase in the number of calls over the last week.</s>OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Health authorities in the Canadian province of Quebec said Thursday that 33 people have died from heat-related complications in the last few days.

Eighteen of those deaths have come in Montreal, where humid temperatures climbed past 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43 degrees Celsius).

Many of the victims were men over the age of 50 living alone in private apartments and seniors' residences, according to Dr. David Kaiser with Montreal's public health department.

None of the victims had air conditioning and Kaiser said most of them died inside of their homes.

"It's not surprising," he said. "Heat risk in an urban setting is a combination of medical, social and environmental exposures. The elderly, people with chronic diseases and people with mental health problems are more at risk."

Kaiser said the social aspect — living alone and not having another place to go to cool down — typically plays a major role in heat-related deaths in the city.

"Montreal is gigantic heat island," he said, referring to an environmental phenomenon caused by a lack of vegetation and an abundance of concrete. There also micro heat islands throughout the city, particularly in some of the poorer areas, he added.

This, too, played a factor in the current heat wave, which began June 29.

Heat warnings were in effect across southern Quebec, Ontario and the Atlantic region of the country, but temperatures were expected to drop overnight.

Dr. Mylene Drouin, the regional director of Montreal's public health department, said ambulance services reported receiving more than 1,200 calls overall in Montreal on Wednesday.</s>MONTREAL — Quebec health officials say at least 54 people are now believed to have died from heat-related complications.

The office of Public Health Minister Lucie Charlebois released the latest figures Friday as parts of Central and Eastern Canada enveloped in heat received a respite with cooler temperatures.

Montreal was the area of the province with the highest number of victims, the government said, with 28 people dying from heat-related complications.

Environment Canada has lifted heat warnings for the affected regions, including Quebec, for the next several days.

The temperature is set to rise again in Montreal by the end of the weekend, however, with the humidex expected to reach up to 36 C for Sunday and Monday.

While the stifling weather also blanketed Ontario and parts of Atlantic Canada, no deaths have been reported elsewhere, in part because various jurisdictions have different ways of gathering data on heat-related fatalities.

While hot weather is expected to remain in Quebec next week, Serge Mainville of Environment Canada said it will be a dry heat.

Montreal-area paramedics weren't expecting a big drop-off in calls on Friday despite the more bearable conditions.

Stefan Overhoff, chief operating officer at Urgences-sante ambulance service, said people who've endured the heat for several days could still be susceptible to health problems.

The service, which covers Montreal and nearby Laval, experienced a sharp increase in the number of calls over the last week.</s>MONTREAL -- Quebec health officials say at least 50 people are now believed to have died from heat-related complications.

A spokeswoman for Public Health Minister Lucie Charlebois confirmed the latest figures today as parts of Central and Eastern Canada enveloped in heat are getting a respite with cooler temperatures.

Environment Canada lifted heat warnings for the regions, including Quebec, for the next several days.

While the stifling weather also blanketed Ontario and parts of Atlantic Canada, no deaths have been reported elsewhere, in part because various jurisdictions have different ways of gathering data on heat-related fatalities.

While hot weather is expected to remain in Quebec next week, Serge Mainville of Environment Canada says it will be a dry heat.

Montreal-area paramedics aren't expecting a big drop-off in calls today despite the more bearable conditions.

Stefan Overhoff, chief operating officer at Urgences-sante ambulance service, says people who've endured the heat for several days could still be susceptible to health problems.

The service, which covers Montreal and nearby Laval, experienced a sharp increase in the number of calls over the last week.</s>MONTREAL - Quebec health officials say at least 50 people are now believed to have died from heat-related complications.

A spokeswoman for Public Health Minister Lucie Charlebois confirmed the latest figures today as parts of Central and Eastern Canada enveloped in heat are getting a respite with cooler temperatures.

Environment Canada lifted heat warnings for the regions, including Quebec, for the next several days.

While the stifling weather also blanketed Ontario and parts of Atlantic Canada, no deaths have been reported elsewhere, in part because various jurisdictions have different ways of gathering data on heat-related fatalities.
As the heat wave in Quebec comes to an end, the death toll rises to 54.