New Delhi: Amid a forecast of a scorching summer in north India, the Centre-run RML Hospital has started a heatstroke helpline — 011-23404446 — on which the public can report heat stroke cases to ensure timely intervention.
The helpline is for those who may be found lying unconscious or are suddenly taken ill due to high temperatures and can be provided immediate medical attention, said Dr Ajay Shukla, medical superintendent of the RML Hospital.
The hospital has re-operationalised its heat-stroke unit equipped with cutting edge technology to treat patients with heat-related illnesses effectively.
Heatstroke can happen if body temperature rises to more than 105 F, said Dr Amlendu Yadav, head of the department of Emergency Medicine at RML Hospital.
In this condition, the patient’s body loses the mechanism to regulate body temperature that is most commonly known as sweating and the patient is in an altered mental status which means the patient can be in an unconscious state or the patient is having a mental status which is “away from normal”, Dr Yadav said.
The mortality in heatstroke cases can be as high as 80 per cent if not treated in time. But if the patient is managed early and gets timely intervention, it can be reduced to 10 per cent, Dr Shukla stated.
