Record heat wave forces hospitals in Bangladesh to take emergency measures

A record heat wave has forced healthcare facilities to take emergency measures for providing medical services to patients with heat-related illnesses, as the entire country has been reeling under scorching heat since the beginning of April.
 
"Large numbers of people are becoming ill with heatstroke, dehydration, exhaustion and breathing problems, and they are suffering from other heat-related diseases as the country witnessed record-breaking temperatures through the month of April," Director of Mugda Medical College and Hospital Dr Md Niatuzzaman said, reports BSS. 

"Under the directive of the health minister, we have taken special measures for the patients linked to heat-related disease . . . a significant number of people are coming to Mugda hospital to take treatment after becoming sick due to on-going heat wave," he added.
 
Children and elderly people are suffering from different heat-related diseases, said Niatuzzaman, adding, "We have taken special initiatives to treat children and elderly people as they are the most vulnerable during this prolonged hot weather."
 
Identical pictures of heat-related illnesses are also seen in other hospitals and healthcare facilities, including Shishu Hospital, Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital and International Centre for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b).

Spokespersons of these hospitals said since the first week of April, patients with heat-related health complications have been visiting doctors to take treatment, and some of them got admission with critical illnesses caused by severe heat wave.
 
A K M Tariful Islam Khan, spokesperson of the ICDDRB, said, "Nearly, 500 diarrhoea patients have been admitted to the International Centre for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B). A significant number of patients are getting admission to ICDDRB daily."

Although this admission figure of diarrohoea patients is normal, he dubbed abnormal hot weather as the main reason for the water-borne disease.

Immediate past director of Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital Dr Khalilur Rahman suggested people to take precautionary measures, including wearing weather-suitable clothes, avoiding external exposure during the day  to protect themselves from heatstroke, and taking rest after one or two hours during the working period.
 
He also urged the people to have liquid food, particularly coconut water, lemon juice, and safe drinking water, as the human body suffers massively from dehydration due to excessive hot weather.

Khalilur said, "During the sweeping of heat wave, body temperature increases alarmingly, which may cause people to faint. People are fainted and heatstroked as our brain does not absorb high temperature as it (brain) has the maximum capacity to tolerate body temperature".
 
As the country has been experiencing severe heat wave since the beginning of April, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) has issued four-point guidelines recently to prevent heatstroke and other heat-related diseases.

The guidelines include staying away from intense heat, taking rest under shadow, drinking plenty of safe water, avoiding street food and drinks, wearing loose, thin and light coloured clothes and visiting doctors if any symptoms such as stopping of sweating, nausea, severe headaches, increased body temperature, decreased appetite, burning sensation, convulsions and fainting are experienced during this hot weather.

Dr Muhammad Abul Kalam Mallik, a seasoned meteorologist working at the Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD) said, "Met Office has been collecting data on increasing temperature since 1948 . . . April already has been the hottest month, breaking all records of 75 years".

"In 2019, 23 days of two months - - April and May -- were for sweeping mild to moderate heat wave. This year, April alone reached exactly 23 days of mild to moderate heat wave, meaning April has broken record for prolonged month of heat wave," he added.
 
"This ongoing heat wave will continue despite some areas near border areas having witnessed little rainfall," the meteorologist said, adding, "There is a chance of relieving from this hot weather as our mathematical model has shown no significant rainfall may occur during the next one or two weeks."

The entire country has been reeling under the first spell of a severe heat wave since the first week of the current month, and the ongoing heat wave will persist throughout the next month.

"The Met Office issued heat alert on April 3, and it has extended the heat alert as Bangladesh is likely to experience prolonged heat wave compared to the past of couple of years," Shahnaz Sultana, a meteorologist of Bangladesh Meteorologist Department (BMD), told BSS recently.

According to officials of different hospitals, a lack of expected downpour lingers the nationwide heat wave, triggering an apparent health problem with an increased number of people reporting to hospitals with high fever, diarrhoea, pneumonia, and sunstroke every day.