SACRAMENTO, Calif. – California public health officials said Thursday they will conduct a statistical study of deaths from last summer’s heat wave to determine whether the number of victims is higher than officially reported.

The announcement came a week after an Associated Press analysis found the number of victims may have been three times as high as officially reported. Health officials said their study, scheduled to begin in late 2008, was planned before the AP’s report.

Separately, the Schwarzenegger administration said it will update the state’s emergency response plan for heat waves to include statistical analyses of deaths.

The announcements came during a state Senate committee hearing focused on last summer’s two-week heat wave. State officials reported 143 deaths, but a six-month AP analysis of California’s 58 counties found the number of people who died in July 2006 was 466 higher than the long-term average for the month.

Health and statistics experts said the discrepancy suggests the state undercounted the death toll by more than 320.

“Whether it’s 143 or 500, heat-related illnesses and deaths are a very important problem,” Grace Koch, deputy director of the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, testified during Thursday’s hearing.

The Department of Public Health will begin its study in late 2008 because it takes the state two years to compile death statistics from counties, department Associate Director Janet Huston said.

It is uncertain how long the study will take, but the department plans to track deaths by age, gender and disease and will investigate any spike in the overall number, Huston said in an e-mail response to specific questions.

The AP gathered the information for its analysis independently from county coroners, registrars and health officials.

A service of the Associated Press(AP)