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The fallout of this week’s brutal London-area heat wave hasn’t hit city hospitals, but that doesn’t mean it won’t yet.
Almost a week into the blistering heat, with temperatures that have soared above 30 C but felt like the low 40s with the humidity factored in, hospital emergency and urgent care departments on Friday reported they’ve seen nothing out of the ordinary in the way of heat-related illnesses and exposure from the dangerously hot weather.
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But one London doctor said there can be a delayed effect from such heat waves, with patients having trouble not showing up for help until days later.
A study done at Children’s Hospital in London found the number of children and young people showing up in its emergency department rose “exponentially” after exposure to temperatures of more than 33 C, said Dr. Anna Gunz, a pediatrician at the hospital.
Heat of that kind was associated with a 22-per-cent increase in emergency department visits, but there was a delayed effect, Gunz noted.
“Up to seven days later, we saw more people coming to the emergency department with infectious and respiratory-related illnesses,” she said, listing pneumonia and asthma as examples of things that can flare up days after an extreme heat day.
“I think the bottom line is it could present many different ways,” Gunz said, encouraging people to be mindful of others in extreme heat.
“Checking in with each other at a community level to make sure people have access to cooling is really imperative,” she said.
Avoiding prolonged exposure to the sun, drinking plenty of fluids and limiting strenuous activity are among the precautions urged during extreme heat. Symptoms of heat stroke – for which medical attention should be sought – include a throbbing headache, nausea or dizziness and a rapid pulse.
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Both St. Joseph’s Health Care, home to London’s urgent care centre, and London Health Sciences Centre, which operates the hospital emergency departments in the city, reported no increase in patient volume from the heat wave.
Earlier this week, Statistics Canada reported that the risk of heat-related deaths during extreme heat rose in 12 Canadian cities surveyed in the 20 years leading up to 2020, with 900 deaths during that period attributed to extreme heat. The risk was higher for people age 65 and older and in cities with larger proportions of renters, the study found.
A natural break in the heat wave won’t come for Londoners until early next week, with forecast daytime high temperatures not expected to fall below 30 until Sunday and Monday. People looking to escape the sweltering conditions can access city community centres and public library branches.
London opened three of its outdoor pools early this season, with weekends-only June hours at the Stronach, Oakridge and Westminster pools. Gibbons was later added. Some evening weekday hours were added this week at Stronach and Oakridge as the heat wave enveloped the area.
The city’s six other outdoor pools are expected to open next Saturday, after the school year ends and just as the Canada Day long weekend arrives.
Spray pads in London have been open since May 17, operating daily from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., and wading pools will open by June 30.
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