Emergency Rooms Swamped as Record Heat Above 100F Wilts US South

At Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Plano, the emergency department had to implement a surge plan to bring in more staff, said Andrew Morris, chair of emergency medicine. A return to hospitals and emergency rooms after patients had shied away during the pandemic is also contributing, he said. The Texas Health system’s 20 emergency rooms saw 181 patients complaining of heat stroke and heat exhaustion in June, the most for that month in records going back to 2019. Others have had extreme cases of heat stroke, and may be given IV fluids or sometimes wrapped in specially designed bags filled with ice. At Tampa General Hospital, several heat-related cases have been particularly concerning, said emergency-medicine physician Jason Wilson.