Development of health risk-based metrics for defining a heatwave: a time series study in Brisbane, Australia

Table 1 Summary of daily health outcomes, air pollutants and climatic variables in Brisbane, Australia, in warm season ^a (1996 – 2005)

Variable	Mean	SD	Min	90%	95%	96%	97%	98%	99%	Max
Deaths	15	4	5	20	21	22	22	23	25	42
EHAs	129	21	71	156	165	166	171	175	181	202
Air pollutant
PM₁₀ (μg/m³)	17.4	6.1	6.5	24.2	28.3	29.6	31.4	33.5	39.4	78.6
NO₂ (ppb)	13.1	4.1	3.6	18.2	20.7	21.6	22.7	23.7	26.4	35.0
O₃ (ppb)	32.0	11.6	7.7	47.9	53.8	55.8	58.4	61.3	66.9	88.2
Temperature (°C)
Maximum	28.9	2.5	20.3	32.0	32.9	33.2	33.7	34.2	35.5	41.2
Minimum	19.6	2.6	11.8	22.9	23.8	24.0	24.3	24.6	25.3	27.7
Mean	24.2	2.2	18.1	27.1	28.0	28.1	28.5	28.9	29.9	34.5
Humidity (%)	64.9	11.7	16.0	79.9	83.9	85.9	88.0	89.6	91.5	96.5

90%, 95% to 99% represent the 90th, 95th to 99th centiles, respectively.
SD standard deviation, Min minimum, Max maximum, EHAs emergency hospital admissions.
^aWarm season: 1st Nov. to 31st Mar. (next year).