Delhi: RML admits season’s first heat stroke case; 24-year-old youth critical

The Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital here has admitted its first heat stroke case of the season, a 24-year-old student from West Bengal who remains critical after being brought unconscious to the facility on Thursday morning, officials said.

The patient was admitted at around 1.45 am with symptoms including vomiting, loose motions, altered sensorium, faecal incontinence and extremely high body temperature, said Dr Ajay Chauhan, Director Professor of Medicine at the hospital.

“He was travelling in a train and was suffering from vomiting, tiredness and loose motions. He was brought to the hospital in a state of unconsciousness. We immediately put him in ice water and tried to cool him down,” Chauhan said.

Doctors instituted immersion cooling therapy and later shifted the patient to the medical ward, where he continues to be under intensive medical management.

“The patient’s condition is still very serious. Heat stroke is a life-threatening condition,” Chauhan said, urging people to remain cautious amid the prevailing extreme weather conditions.

He advised residents to stay hydrated, consume fluids with salts, avoid direct exposure to the sun and move to shaded areas while doing physical work outdoors.

Amid a series of heatwave days, Delhi recorded its warmest night for the month of May in nearly 14 years, with the minimum temperature settling at 31.9 degrees Celsius on Thursday, according to the India Meteorological Department.

The weather office has issued an orange alert for the national capital, forecasting severe heatwave conditions with the maximum temperature likely to touch 46 degrees Celsius during the day.