Intense heatwave: 5 deaths reported in Delhi, many admitted to hospitals

As Delhi continues to be in the grip of 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.

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. 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.

"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," the hospital official said.

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

"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," he added

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.

"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," the doctor added.

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."

Meanwhile, Lok Nayak Hospital has also reported that nine patients were admitted on Wednesday due to heatstroke. Out of these nine patients, four are currently on ventilator support due to critical conditions and multi-organ failure caused by heatstroke.

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.