Ground report: Take precautions to ward off heat stroke

With the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) issuing yellow and orange alert in different districts of Punjab in view of the severe heat wave conditions, the Health Department has asked the people to stay safe and try to avoid going outside at noon when temperature reaches the maximum. The current situation is expected to continue for the next several days.

The temperature in Amritsar has been hovering around 45 degree Celsius coupled with hot and dry winds. The health officials have advised the residents to stay indoors, especially during noon from 12 pm to 4 pm, and come out only when there is some urgent work.

Till now, though there has been no case of heat stroke reported as such in major government hospitals, including Guru Nanak Dev Hospital and Jallianwala Bagh Memorial Civil Hospital here, health experts revealed that there has been a considerable number of cases with symptoms of heat-related illness.

“There has been some substantial increase in cases of fever, dehydration and vomiting etc in the OPD but there was no admission of heat stroke patients in the hospitals,” said Dr Sawarnjit Dhawan, Senior Medical Officer, Civil Hospital, here.

Nevertheless, the residents have to be aware of heat stroke, its symptoms and methods to handle it so that no life is lost because of this, he said.

Elderly people, children, pregnant women and people with certain medical conditions are among those who are at potential risk of heatstroke, said Dr Rajiv Sharma, a former Associate Professor at Guru Nanak Dev Hospital. He said high grade fever, dry skin, rashes, dehydration, rapid heartbeat, headache, dizziness, nausea, vomiting and tiredness are among the common symptoms of heat stress. In several cases, disorientation and even seizures may occur because of high fever that affects the brain.

“People should take a lot of fluids including water, lassi, lemon water and avoid cold drinks besides keeping away from fried and fast food,” added Dr Rajiv Sharma.

The people should also wear light-colour clothes and cover their heads with a cloth or a cap to reduce the chances of a heat stroke.

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