TOKYO >> A team of researchers at the Nagoya Institute of Technology is providing six-day forecasts of the number of people expected to be taken to the hospital by ambulance due to heatstroke each day.

These forecasts, which cover Tokyo and seven other prefectures — including Aichi, Osaka and Fukuoka — are publicly available at heatstroke.jp. The team intends for the forecasts to aid in preventing heatstroke and be informative for emergency medical care centers.

The researchers analyzed weather data from 2013-19 and information of about 140,000 people who were taken to the hospital to start formulating their forecasts. The also took into account people’s physical characteristics, such as the increased risk they face immediately after the end of the rainy season when they are not yet accustomed to the heat, as well as the percentage of elderly residents in each region.

All of that information is combined with weekly weather forecasts from the Japan Meteorological Agency, which is updated daily, to create their heatstroke forecasts.

The website displays a map of Japan indicating prefectures, which are color coded to indicate the number of expected hospitalizations on a given day. For example, the color pink indicates 24 or less individuals with heatstroke; purple represents areas with 100 or more heatstroke patients. A line graph indicates forecasts looking six days ahead.

The wet bulb globe temperature heat index, which is based on temperature and humidity, is an established indicator of the risk of heatstroke, but predictions look just two days in advance.

Because the Nagoya team’s predictions are available up to six days ahead, they make it easier for people to plan outings and outdoor events, and they give firefighters and medical institutions more time to prepare to receive patients, researchers said.

“I hope that the predictions will be used in various fields,” said team researcher Akimasa Hirata, who predicted COVID-19 case numbers using artificial intelligence.