Delhi heat claims first victim — 40-year-old factory worker from Darbhanga

The 40-year-old had worked in Delhi for the last five years.

The doctor said once he arrived at the hospital, he was immediately admitted to the Heat Stroke Unit – a special unit set up for the first time at the hospital on May 8 because of the rising temperature.

“He (the patient) remained in the unit till Tuesday evening. He was shifted to the ward on Wednesday morning. His condition suddenly deteriorated. He died around 3 pm,” the doctor said.

Dr Ajay Chauhan, Professor of Internal Medicine at RML Hospital, said 6-7 patients had been admitted to the Heat Stroke Unit in the past week. Chauhan also heads the unit. “Two of them (patients) are still admitted. One of them was a case of heat exhaustion,” he said.

Chauhan said these patients are primarily from low-income groups. One of them works in a plastic pellet manufacturing company, and the other lives on the top floor of a house without an AC or cooler.

He said the second patient had “a very high body temperature”. “When he arrived at the hospital, he was completely disoriented.”

Heat stroke occurs, doctors say, when the body is no longer able to control its rising temperature and the sweating mechanism which helps to cool down the body fails. Heat exhaustion, meanwhile, is a condition when the body overheats but keeps sweating.

On Monday, another heat stroke patient arrived at RML hospital’s Heat Stroke Unit after being referred from Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital. His condition, doctors said, was serious and he was immediately put on a ventilator. “He has now been shifted out of the unit,” said Dr Amlendu Yadav, a Professor at the Department of Emergency Medicine in RML.

“There was a 25-year-old patient who was travelling in a bus at noon when the temperatures are generally very high. She suffered a heat stroke three days ago. She was lucky to get timely treatment and has been discharged now,” said Dr Chauhan.

Doctors at the unit said the patients they attended to were “classic cases of heat stroke”. There are two types of heatstroke, a doctor explained: “Exertional heat is generally because of physical overexertion in hot, humid conditions and can develop within few hours”. Classic heatstroke cases occur “due to age or underlying health conditions”.

Meanwhile, at Safdarjung Hospital, giant desert coolers have been set up at the Emergency building’s ground floor.

The hospital’s Public Relations Officer said four suspected patients of heat stroke have been treated in the last 7 days.

A senior doctor working in the Emergency Medicine department, however, said he has seen almost 20 cases in his clinic in the last week. “They were patients of all age groups… office-goers, labourers, and even sportspersons,” he said. “We are also witnessing an increase in the number of children suffering from dehydration… there is an increase in diarrhoea and loose motion cases as well,” he said.

In Northwest Delhi’s Deep Chand Bandhu Hospital, one heat stroke case was reported while a suspected case was seen in Central Delhi’s Lady Hardinge Medical College.

Meanwhile, private hospitals said they are seeing mostly heat exhaustion cases.

Dr Suranjit Chatterjee, Senior Consultant, Internal Medicine, at Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, Delhi, said these patients complain of heat cramps, muscle cramps, and tiredness. “Almost one-fourth of patients I’ve seen have reported these issues,” said Dr Chatterjee, adding that the patients are mostly bike riders, security guards, and those working in shaded but hot areas.

Dr Rommel Tickoo, Director of Internal Medicine at Max Superspeciality Hospital, said he hasn’t seen heat stroke cases but those of mild heat exhaustion. “Almost 15-20% of patients in the OPD reported symptoms of heat exhaustion in the last week,” he said.

According to Dr Tushar Tayal, lead consultant at the Department of Internal Medicine at C K Birla Hospital, Gurgaon, he has seen only 2-3 cases of mild heat exhaustion.