As Mercury Soars, Influx Of Heat Stroke Patients In Delhi Hospitals

Hospitals in Delhi-NCR are seeing an influx of patients with complaints of heat stroke and heat exhaustion as the mercury continues to soar in the national Capital, with doctors advising the elderly and immuno-compromised patients to avoid stepping outdoors.

Last month, Delhi Health minister Saurabh 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.

Dr Ritu Saxena, deputy medical superintendent, LNJP Hospital, said, “We are getting eight to 10 patients every day. There are serious patients also who require ICU admission. Yesterday, we got two patients who were hospitalised and prior to that we had four ICU admissions.

“The patients who are developing severe illness are those who are elderly or have co-morbidities like hypertension, diabetes and Coronary Artery Disease (CAD). We are also getting few patients from other hospitals like Babu Jagjivan Ram Hospital and Satyawadi Raja Harish Chandra Hospital,” she said.

The senior doctor said the rise has been in proportion with the intensifying of heatwave conditions.

The CK Birla Hospital in Gurugram has been receiving one to two patients in OPD every day with heat-related illnesses such as heat exhaustion and heat rash, even though they have not treated any heat stroke patients.

According to Dr Tushar Tayal, Consultant, Internal Medicine, CK Birla Hospital, elderly patients with previous co-morbidities such as diabetes and heart disease, and youngsters indulging in excessive physical activity are suffering more from heat exhaustion.