Heatwave: 5 Deaths In Delhi Over Two Days; Health Minister Directs Scaling Up Of Hospital Beds 

inNew Delhi: As Delhi continues to reel under a heatwave with maximum temperature “feeling” like 51 degree Celsius as per the Met Department, the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital has reported five deaths due to suspected heatstroke while at least 12 people, mostly daily wage labourers are in critical condition battling for their lives on ventilator support.

Also Read: Delhi Disaster Management Authority Issues Dos And Don’ts For Heatwave

According to Dr Ajay Shukla, Medical Superintendent of RML Hospital, 11 people were admitted to the hospital on Tuesday (June 18) with heat stroke, the highest reported in a single day this season. He said that since the beginning of the heatwave about a month or so ago at least 45 people have been admitted with heat-related ailments till date. The hospital official said,

A total of 22 patients have been admitted to the hospital and five have lost their lives due to suspected heatstroke. 12 patients are on ventilators and in critical situation. The majority of patients are labourers who work in extreme conditions.

He also added that the main reason for the deaths was a delay in reaching the hospital.

He said,

So far we have received a total of 45-50 patients and around 7 people have died since the beginning of the heatwave situation.

He added,

Most of the patients are poor migrant labourers. They do a lot of physical work so they are very prone to heatstroke. Most of the patients die because they are late in reaching the hospital. The mortality rate in this is 60-70 per cent. If treatment is delayed, the number of deaths can be quite high.

The doctor said that most patients were middle-aged. “Most of them are labourers most of them are breadwinners of the family. This is one set of patients. The other set of patients are the neglected patients, the elderly who are in their house. Mostly they were on the top floor; they were not taking care of their hydration because of their elderly age,” said Dr Amlendu Yadav, HOD, Department of Emergency Medicine, RML Hospital.

He said that delays in administering treatment to heatstroke victims led to such them landing in Intensive Care Units.

The doctor added,

But the common thing between these two categories is that most of these patients in the last week reported very late, so their prognosis is getting worse because of late reporting. I just request people to get awareness about heatstroke and report it early so that the prognosis and outcome get better. We should create awareness about the protection from the heatstroke and keeping adequate hydration for such patients.

Also Read: India’s ‘Heat Trap’ Cities Make Summers Worse, Says Government Official

Dr Seema Balkrishna Wasnik, senior consultant, Department of Emergency Medicine, RML hospital said, “Yesterday 82 yr old patient died due to shock because by the time she reached she was already critical.”

Earlier, the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) confirmed that there have been at least 56 deaths from heatstroke in multiple states.

In May alone, 46 people have died due to heatstroke. However, suspected heatstroke cases in May were 1,918.

According to data shared by states, over 7 lakh people were admitted to emergency departments of primary care hospitals.

Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said that heatwave to severe heatwave conditions are likely to continue over many parts of North India on Wednesday and gradually abate thereafter due to an approaching western disturbance towards northwest India.

According to the IMD, heatwave conditions prevailed in most parts of Punjab, Haryana-Chandigarh, Delhi, and Uttar Pradesh; in some parts of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, and north Madhya Pradesh.

Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj on Wednesday (June 19) held an emergency meeting with the heads of hospitals and directed them to scale up beds for patients of heat-related illnesses.
During the meeting, it was decided that Delhi Police beat officers and patrolling teams will be requested help in shifting homeless to shelter homes in case they are found on the footpath.

Mr Bharadwaj said in a post on X,

“Chaired an emergency meeting with heads of all major hospitals regarding Heat stroke patients Delhi Police beat officers/ patrolling teams will be requested help in shifting homeless to shelter homes in case they are lying under open sky. Department is sending communication to Delhi Police Commissioner to ask their patrolling teams to call Ambulances in case their teams spot destitute is running high fever or sick. Hospitals to scale up the beds for patients of heat related illnesses. Circular issued to Hospitals & CATS Ambulance service. Fresh advisory to be advertised in Radio and Newspapers.

Last month, Mr Bharadwaj had announced that the Delhi government-run hospitals will reserve two beds each for heatstroke patients while five beds will be reserved at the LNJP Hospital.

Also Read: Heatwave Back In Eastern, Northern India Amid Indications Of Monsoon Lull

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