As an oppressive heat dome is currently scorching a majority of the US South, a hospital in Arizona witnessed admissions of people with heat-related issues similar to during the Covid-19 pandemic, a media report said.
“The heat is taking a major toll,” emergency room doctor Frank LoVecchio from Valleywise Health Medical Center told CNN on Tuesday.
“The hospital has not been this busy with overflow since a few peaks in the Covid pandemic,” he added.
As the scorching heat persist, there have been 12 confirmed heat-related deaths recorded in Arizona's Maricopa County so far this year as of the first week of July, and 55 under investigation as suspected heat-related deaths, according to data from the Maricopa County Department of Public Health.
LoVecchio added that he has seen three to four cases per shift of patients who faced death without emergency treatment.
Valleywise Health Medical Center Communications Director Michael Murphy told CNN that in some extreme cases, they are placing patients in body bags packed with ice to help cool them off, adding the burn center has been “slammed” with patients experiencing contact burns.
On Monday, the state capital Phoenix recorded a temperature of 43 degree Celsius for a 19th straight day, shattering the city's previous record.
With residents cranking up their air conditioning, Arizona Public Service utility customers’ demand on July 15 set the record for the most electricity used at once in the utility’s history.
Phoenix has a total of 60 hydration stations, 30 cooling centers and four respite centers for those needing heat relief, Kelly Taft, communications director for Maricopa Association of Governments, told CNN.
Currently, more than 90 million people in the US are under heat advisories, including at least 50 million who have been under heat alerts for the past 10 days.
There have been heat alerts for dangerously high temperatures in the Southwest -- stretching from Texas to Arizona -- for 38 consecutive days dating back to June 10.
In its latest update, the National Weather Service (NWS) said the blistering heat is expected to continue across the region through at least July 28.
More than 1,500 record-high temperatures were recorded in the US so far this month, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Over 35 daily high temperature records were broken on Sunday alone, the NWS said, with Death Valley, California, hitting a daily record-breaking 53.3 degrees and Las Vegas shattering its record with 46 degrees.
Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona; El Paso, Corpus Christi and Brownsville, Texas; and Tampa and Fort Myers, Florida, are all having their hottest July’s on record to date, according to NOAA climate data.
El Paso reached 37 degrees for the 32nd straight day, “with no end in sight”, the NWS.
The previous record for consecutive days over 100 was 23 in 1994.
“Take the heat seriously and avoid extended time outdoors. Temperatures and heat indices will reach levels that would pose a health risk, and be potentially deadly, to anyone without effective and/or adequate hydration," CNN quoted the NWS as saying.
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