Delhi Health Minister chairs emergency meeting as heatstroke cases surge in Delhi
Jun 19, 2024
New Delhi [India], June 19 : Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj on Wednesday chaired an emergency meeting with heads of all major hospitals amid heatwave conditions and a surge in heatstroke cases in the national capital.
During the meeting, Delhi Health Minister directed all major hospitals in the national capital to scale up their beds for patients with heat-related illnesses.
"Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj today chaired an emergency meeting with heads of all major hospitals amid heatwave conditions. He directed the hospitals to scale up their beds for patients with heat-related illnesses," as per the Health Minister's Office.
"The fresh advisory will be advertised in radio and newspapers. Delhi Police beat officers/ patrolling teams will be requested to help in shifting homeless to shelter homes in case they are lying under open sky," as per the Health Minister's Office.
As per IMD, the maximum temperature of 43.6 degrees Celsius was recorded in the national capital on Wednesday (June 19).
As per officials from Lok Nayak Hospital and Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital 20 people have been hospitalized due to heatstroke.
Suresh Kumar, Medical Director of LNJP Hospital says, "Currently, 9 patients are admitted in LNJP hospital. Out of the 9 patients, 4 patients are on ventilator support due to their critical condition and multi-organ failure due to heatstroke."
According to Dr Ajay Shukla, Medical Superintendent of RML Hospital, 11 people were admitted to the hospital on Tuesday with heat stroke, the highest reported in a single day this season."
As per the IMD, heat waves are a period of unusually high temperatures as compared to what is normally expected over a region. A heatwave is considered if the maximum temperature of a station reaches at least 40 degrees Celsius or more for plains and at least 30 degrees Celsius or more for hilly regions.
