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Operations & systems
Hot days drive dizziness call-outs
Association between meteorological conditions and dizziness-related ambulance transports: a population-based study in Kochi Prefecture, Japan
Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine · 2026 · Added 24 October 2026
Population-based study of 270,120 emergency transports in Kochi, Japan linking weather to dizziness-related ambulance call-outs — hotter days and short-term temperature spikes raised the odds of high-volume dizziness days, peaking in summer.
- Study type
- Cohort
- Design
- Retrospective population-based cohort (2017–2023)
- Participants
- 270,120 emergency transports, 8,981 dizziness-related
- Main finding
- Higher mean air temperature consistently associated with increased odds of high-frequency dizziness-transport days (≥5/day), as were short-term maximum-temperature increases and smaller diurnal temperature ranges; most frequent in summer
- Caveat
- Modest absolute differences in meteorological variables and dizziness defined by receiving-facility physician diagnosis
- Bottom line
- Context only
Why it matters in Australia (Medium relevance). A Japanese physician-diagnosed dataset, but heat-driven demand spikes are a planning problem Australian ambulance services face every summer.
Learning goal
Understand how heat and temperature swings influence demand patterns and my management of dizziness presentations in Australian summer conditions.
More
- Topic: Operations & systems
- Daily scan: 24 October 2026
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