Project Grant R01ES034740

This federal Project Grant award of $865,797 from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (CFDA 93.113 - Environmental Health) supports research to evaluate the nationwide impacts of short-term air pollution and temperature exposures on Emergency Medical Service (EMS) activations across the United States.

The primary awardee, the University of Arizona, will construct a spatiotemporal database linking 911 call data from the National EMS Information System (NEMSIS) with environmental exposure data, built environment factors, and neighborhood characteristics. This will allow the researchers to assess the associations between air pollution, temperature, and cause-specific EMS transports (e.g. cardiovascular, respiratory, temperature-related). The project also includes examining these exposure-response relationships in select urban areas using more granular, sensor-based exposure estimates. Additionally, the University of Illinois, University of Utah, and University of California, Riverside are sub-awardees on this project.

This research aims to provide the first nationwide evaluation of the burden on EMS systems associated with short-term environmental exposures, which could inform public health interventions and emergency response planning as climate change impacts escalate.