RML Hospital gears up for heatwave surge with advanced heat stroke unit

With the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecasting an intense heat spell in May, Ram Manohar Lohia hospital is expecting a huge rush of patients in its heat stroke unit ward in the coming days.

Last year, the hospital received 70 patients in its heat stroke unit.

The unit is equipped with immersion cooling technology, critical care beds, and even a Mobile Heat Stroke Response pre-hospital care. With rising heatwave emergencies, this is a major leap in patient-centric innovation and rapid response capability.

“The patients we receive in the heat stroke unit are mostly those who work as security guards and construction laborers. They are exposed to heat. If a patient’s body temperature is found to be more than 100 degrees Fahrenheit, we put him in the immersion tub. The tub is filled with 50-kg ice to bring the temperature of the tub to one-three degrees Celsius. A patient is then put in the tub for 25 minutes to bring down the body temperature. These patients are unconscious,” head of emergency medicine, Dr Amlendu Yadav told The Tribune.

The unit has an ice manufacturing machine.

Yadav commented that if intervention is not given to a patient of heatstroke, the chance of death is high.

“During heatstroke, a patient loses the mechanism to sweat. There are chances that organs like the brain and liver stop working. So intervention at the right time is important,” he added.

He said often the patients who might have lost consciousness in the night are brought to the hospital the next day. “Most of the patients are senior citizens. It is important to give aid to these patients immediately,” Yadav added.

Last year, 20 patients of heatstroke died in the hospital.

This specialized unit for heat stroke patients was launched at RML hospital on May 8, 2024, as the temperatures started soaring in Delhi.

Delhi