# Extreme Heat Alert - 1936



## mariomike (18 Jul 2012)

The City of Toronto - and other areas - has been experiencing record breaking temperatures. The usual spike in call volume and PSAs.

That is not the reason for this post.

I wanted to share a message from T-EMS to their Pioneers ( retired members ).

The 1936 Heat Wave   

The July 13, 1936 edition of the Toronto Star reported that Toronto suffered a deadly heat wave that taxed the ambulance service. The headlines read: 

" City Ambulance Staff Works Harder Than During The Flu Epidemic"

Reports of the day indicated that more than 325 had died in Toronto since the heat wave had started 6 days earlier. Temperatures  had reached 100 Fahrenheit ( 37.7 Celsius) and 120 people had died over the weekend alone. 

"Again last night Toronto camped out. Citizens took springs and mattresses into back yards, parks, down to beaches and some mounted flat roofs in the hope of getting any breeze which might be stirring." 

The report continues: " Ambulance staff have hardly had time to eat the last few days, officials of the Public Health service said. One Ambulance handled about 50 cases in a day and in one hour there were 8 deaths and a number of prostration cases to be taken care of. The Ambulance staff of 12 men said that they did not have to work this hard, even during the 1918 Flu epidemic." 

The 1936 Heat Wave:
http://www.heritagetoronto.org/news/story/2011/11/16/1936-heat-wave


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