Hospitals asked to be prepared to tackle heatwaves

If the northern hemisphere’s deadly heatwave is anything to go by, Australia could be in for its own long, hot summer.

Global heat records have toppled and there is a high chance in the coming weeks of an El Niño declaration in Australia, which is linked to hot, dry weather.

It has prompted warnings from health experts that the return of heatwaves will almost certainly lead to an increase in hospitalisations and deaths.

“People don’t necessarily realise how much heatwaves can impact their health because the effects of a heatwave are not so apparent,” said Hannah Mason, an associate lecturer at James Cook University’s School of Public Health.

“It’s not like a cyclone that comes through the city and rips apart your house … so we don’t realise how big the risk is.”

Ms Mason’s study of hospital and ambulance data over 20 years found heatwaves increased the risk of death in Queensland by 5 per cent and increased ambulance call-out demand by more than 12 per cent.

The looming weather outlook has alarmed doctors so much that they penned a joint statement last week calling for more action and preparation for climate disasters.

The statement was endorsed by more than 100,000 medical professionals from 13 medical colleges including the royal Australasian colleges of physicians, surgeons, and general practitioners, and the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine.

“We, as medical experts, are very concerned that Australian healthcare systems remain unprepared to handle extreme weather events that may be just around the corner,” the statement said.

They called on the federal government to “urgently ensure that the National Health and Climate Strategy is fully funded and resourced,” as well as using guidance from First Nations communities and working to build healthier and climate resilient communities.

The strategy, which aims to better prepare for the health challenges presented by climate change, has just finished its public consultation phase and is due for release later this year.

In a statement, the Department of Health and Aged Care said it remained committed to achieving net zero emissions by 2050 and there was core funding to deliver its action plan.

“The National Health and Climate Strategy will consider opportunities to build healthy and climate resilient communities by collaborating with sectors outside of the health system,” it said.

Silent killer
In Queensland’s steamy tropics, Cairns GP and member of the group Doctors for the Environment Australia, Dr Nicole Sleeman, said she saw the impact of climate change in her practice through growing numbers of heat-related illnesses.

“Heat is a silent killer,” Dr Sleeman said.

“We need to maintain a temperature within a certain range. When heat goes up in the ambient temperature our bodies have to adjust to keep our body in a safe zone.”

Dr Sleeman said the elderly, children, and people with mental and chronic illnesses were most at risk.

“We know that during heatwaves there are greater admissions to hospital for people with mental illness having relapses,” she said.

“[Also] anybody who has any sort of chronic disease — cardiovascular disease like heart disease, or lung diseases, diabetes, kidney diseases.

“The body just can’t compensate in the heat and it can flip people over into acute illness and they can end up in hospital.”

Queensland Health said it regularly assessed the health system’s preparedness.

“We have adopted comprehensive heat and health plans, early warning systems, and national standards for heatwave response plans,” it said in a statement.

“We are also working to educate Queenslanders about the risks of heat and how to stay safe during heatwaves, as well as improve the resilience of our health infrastructure to withstand extreme heatwaves.”

Ms Mason is working with Queensland Health and the Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) on their preparations for the summer ahead.

“It comes down to everything, its staffing, its resourcing,” she said.

“If we’re talking about a 12.68 per cent increase in ambulance calls … you need an extra 12.68 per cent of staff to answer those calls.”

Ms Mason said longer-term mitigation strategies also needed to be examined when it came to housing, access to cool spaces, and public transport.

“Climate change is what’s driving these increases in heatwaves and that’s what needs to be addressed firstly,” she said.

“Then after that … how do we respond, and how resilient are communities when heatwaves hit?” ABC