European Hospitals Upgrade Cooling Systems After Record Heat Wave

Hospitals in the Paris region are installing new cooling equipment after a record heat wave last week exposed gaps in their ability to treat heat-related illnesses. Emergency departments treated surges of patients suffering from heart attacks, dehydration and kidney failure beginning June 20.

Staff at one facility resorted to buying ice from fast-food restaurants and supermarkets to cool patients in emergency baths.

The Paris-Saclay Hospital has ordered its own ice machine for the emergency department. Three older hospitals in the same group are receiving cool rooms on each floor of a psychiatric unit and other renovations to protect medicines and patients from high temperatures.

Officials said the hospital group will be better prepared for any repeat heat wave next week than it was during the most recent episode.

It is also purchasing 30,000 air-conditioning units, with the first deliveries expected by the end of the week. Health officials said preparations for heat waves are becoming as routine as annual flu-season planning. Hospital staff reported working around the clock during the peak period to find new solutions under time pressure.

They said lessons from the episode will guide further changes before the next heat wave arrives.