Key Points

• A new heat wave has been affecting mainland France since July 29. The monitoring data presented in this bulletin covers the period from July 29 to August 3. During this period, 24% of the mainland population was affected by at least one day under an orange heat wave alert.
• The iCanicule indicators began to rise as early as July 29.
• The number of emergency room visits across all age groups for the iCanicule indicator (hyperthermia/heatstroke, dehydration, and hyponatremia) peaked at 293 visits on July 29. This number has dropped to approximately 180 visits per day since August 1.
• Hospitalizations following emergency room visits related to iCanicule reached a high plateau between July 29 and 31, at more than 160 hospitalizations per day, and have been declining since then.
• The number of SOS Médecins calls related to the iCanicule indicator increased on July 29 and 30 (49 and 53 calls, respectively) and then fluctuated between 28 and 50 calls from July 31 to August 3.
• All age groups are affected by these emergency care requests for the iCanicule indicator, particularly people aged 75 and older.
• The trends observed in healthcare utilization are consistent with temperature trends. These impacts underscore the importance of implementing prevention and adaptation measures for the entire population, based on weather forecasts, without waiting to observe actual impacts. As a reminder, impacts on morbidity do not allow us to predict mortality.