Extreme Heat Sending Comatose Americans To Hospitals Nationwide
Via WSJ:
“I wish this would stop,” said Dr. Frank LoVecchio, a physician at Valleywise Health Medical Center in Phoenix, which deploys the ice-packed body bags as an emergency treatment for patients who overheat so much they arrive comatose.
People suffering from the extreme heat can arrive at hospitals with symptoms such as cramps, nausea and fatigue. Body temperatures of about 104 degrees or higher can also lead to a potentially fatal condition known as heat stroke, which can cause hallucinations and organ damage or failure.
For patients with life-threatening body temperatures, LoVecchio said Valleywise doctors employ the ice baths as well as fans. The hospital also gives medicines to the comatose to keep them in a coma, which protects their brains.
[WSJ]
Via NBC:
