Record Summer Heat Kept Local Hospitals Busy

              SHREVEPORT JOURNAL • SHREVEPORT-BOSSIE R
Record Summer Heat Kept Local Hospitals Busy
By EVANGELINE TOLLESON
Journal Staff Writer
While most local residents com-plained
of discomfort during this
area's record hot summer, there
wefe some who faced more serious
trouble.
Local emergency room personnel
were kept busy as the number of
heat-related emergencies increased
dramatically, particularly among
outside laborers and poor elderly
residents who lived alone in poorly
ventilated homes.
Feverish victims of the heat —
some with dangerously high tem-peratures
reaching 108 degrees —
were rushed to local hospitals where
emergency procedures were started.
Patients' vital signs were checked
as nurses learned the background of
the patients. Many of the elderly's
conditions were complicated be-cause
of other illnesses such as heart
or lung deficiencies.
Intravenous solutions were admin-istered
to the dehydrated patients in
efforts to replinish fluids and elec-trolytes.
To lower high body tem-peratures,
emergency room per-sonnel
positioned ice packs on the
patients' bodies. In extreme cases,
ice water enemas were performed.
Usually these methods were suc-cessful.
Sometimes they were not. At
least 14 Caddo and Bossier residents
died during July and August, victims
of this area's hottest summer on
record.
At one point during July, half of
the beds in LSU Medical Center's
eight-bed intensive care unit were
taken by patients suffering from
heat-related problems, according to
Dorothy Hardaway, ICU supervisor
"It's the busiest summer we've
had in the unit," Mrs. Hardaway
said, noting the unit has been open
for six years. "Usually we have
peaks and valleys but the peak has
stayed with us and continued for a
long time. I think everyone is just
waiting for a break, and it's just a
long time coming."
"The walk-in clinic has definitely
been busier these past three
months," stated Connie Williams
supervisor of emergency services
Sne has been a nurse for 24 years.
"We did see an increase in the
number of heat exhaustion and heat-related
problems," she said. ——
About 30 patients were treated at
Willis-Knighton Medical Center this
summer for heat-related illnesses,
according to Dr. Ignatius Tedesco,
emergency room physician.
Only one patient suffered a heat
stroke, he said. Heat stroke victims
may have temperatures 106 degrees
or higher and usually are either very
old or very young, Tedesco ex-plained.
The majority suffered from heat
exhaustion or heat prostration,
which usually occurred among la-borers
who worked outside but did
not'sweat much, he said.
The symptoms of heat exhaustion
or prostration include muscle
cramps, stomach pains, vomiting,
nausea and severe headaches.
Veterans Administration Medical
Center treated 30 to 40 patients with
heat-related conditions, a spokes-man
reported. The average daily
census at the hospital in July is 246
patients. This year, July's average
census was 324 patients, he noted.
August's average daily census is 281,
compared with 345 patients this
year.
The hospital spokesman said the
increased census was due not only to
the heat but also to increased ex-pertise
at the medical center.
There were at least nine patients
suffering from the heat who were
treated at Schumpert Medical Cen-ter
this summer, according to Dr.
Dennis Whitfield, emergency room
physician. The hospital usually
treats "half that many" heat-related
cases, he said.
Three of the nine patients had
"quite severe" heat strokes, Whit-field
said, adding in a normal sum-mer
there may be no heat stroke
victims.
Two of the heat stroke victims
were middle-aged outdoor laborers,
Whitfield said. One man was working
on a roof and another worked in a
hole, the doctor noted. Most heat-related
illnesses involved elderly pa-tients
who suffered from other ill-nesses,
he added.
Hot temperatures also affected the
moods of hospital personnel, he said,
noting workers were less energetic.
Physicians and Surgeons Hospital
recorded 15 heat-related emergency
room cases during the summer, the
bulk during July when residents
were less accustomed to the heat,
according to spokesman Perry
Keith. One patient died and five
others were admitted to the hospital,
he said.
P a c k e d in I c e — Emergency room personnel at
Willis-Knighton Medical Center demonstrate how
patients suffering from heat are packed down with
ice. (Journal Photo by Andy Sharp)