A Canadian woman in her 70s could be the first patient to be diagnosed with 'climate change.’ Doctors blame her health issue on the deadly heat waves earlier this year. Dr Kyle Merritt of Kootenay Lake Hospital, who diagnosed the patient, told the Times Colonist how the heatwaves exacerbated the toll on patients who were already dealing with several health issues.
"Her health problems have gotten worse, and she's having a hard time staying hydrated. We needed to figure out how to keep someone cool in the emergency room. People were rushing out to get spray bottles at the Dollar Store," the head of the department shared with local media.
Hundreds of people died as a result of record-breaking heatwaves in Canada and parts of the United States. The heatwaves killed at least 233 people in British Columbia. The emergency was produced by a dome of high pressure over the Northwest, which was exacerbated by human-induced climate change, which is increasing the likelihood and intensity of extreme weather occurrences.
The cause of the dome is unknown, but considering the heatwave's duration, severity, and the fact that it is establishing new temperature highs a month early than the usual hottest time of year, climate change appears to be a factor. Heatstroke and heat exhaustion were more likely due to the extreme temperatures and humidity.
As more patients arrived with heatstrokes and other heat-related ailments, doctors had to figure out how to keep up with the mounting burden on the region's hospitals. The emergency department doctor then contacted colleagues at other hospitals, only to discover that the situation was even worse than he had anticipated.
Raging wildfires damaged the breathable air, loading it with suspended particulate matter PM2.5. Heatwaves were not the sole cause of death in the region. "We'll just keep slipping further and further behind if we don't look at the fundamental problem and merely treat the symptoms," Dr Merritt told Glacier Media.
Healthcare professionals have now banded together to establish an effort aimed at improving human health while also safeguarding the environment. The campaign, Doctors and Nurses for Planetary Health, is led by 40 healthcare professionals and aims to educate people about the implications of climate change on health.