Heat wave precautions

R

redhead

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For anyone concerned, the Met Office has triggered level 2 alert. This is the latest NHS posting regarding taking care of oneself and others.

23/06/09

Temperatures are expected to rise throughout the weekend, with a 60% risk of a heatwave being triggered for Monday and Tuesday next week. Daytime highs in London could reach 32 degrees C, falling away at night to no lower than 19 or 20 degrees C. For other areas, daytime temperatures could reach 29-30 degrees C, with night-time minima of 15-18 degrees C.
This has triggered Heatwave Plan alert level 2, which means the risk that high temperatures being reached in one of more regions on at least two consecutive days, and the intervening night, is 60 per cent. London, the East of England, South West, South East and the Midlands are the most likely to be affected.
This is an important stage for social and healthcare services who will be working to ensure readiness to reduce harm from a potential heatwave.
The heat is especially dangerous for the very young, older people or those with serious illnesses. In particular, it can make heart and respiratory problems worse. In extreme cases, excess heat can lead to heat stroke, which can be fatal.
A Spokesperson for Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said:
“Keeping the home as cool as possible during hot weather and remembering the needs of friends, relatives and neighbours who could be at risk is essential.
“The elderly and those who are ill, are particularly vulnerable during hot weather and the most oppressive conditions occur in our towns and cities.”
Although ozone levels increase in hot weather, they drop in the evening. Windows should be kept shaded and closed when the temperature is hotter outside than inside. People with respiratory problems should stay inside during the hottest part of the day.
Advice on keeping healthy can be found on NHS Choices at www.nhs.uk; NHS direct on 0845 4647 or GPs if concerned about health symptoms.
Top tips for coping during a heatwave include:
  • Check up on friends, relatives and neighbours who may be less able to look after themselves.
  • Shut and shade windows when it is hotter outside and open them for ventilation when it is cooler outside
  • People with serious health problems (for example heart conditions), should avoid going out in the heat, especially between 11am and 3pm
  • Drink cold drinks like water or fruit juice regularly and avoid tea, coffee and alcohol.
  • Stay tuned to the weather forecast and plan ahead with supplies – think of elderly neighbours who may need help with supplies.
  • Keep plenty of water to hand and stay in the shade where possible
  • Identify the coolest room in the house to use as a room to cool down or sleep in
 
I'm impressed; that article was the latest NHS posting yet it's only dated a week ago. Bloody hell, that department of theirs must be a hell of a lot more efficient than any other! The NHS is a fecking disgrace.
 
Shadow Leader said:
I'm impressed; that article was the latest NHS posting yet it's only dated a week ago. Bloody hell, that department of theirs must be a hell of a lot more efficient than any other! The NHS is a fecking disgrace.
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I've been on leave and only picked it up this morning!!
 
Nice day where I am in the NorthEast but then all hell broke loose at 3:30 with thunderstorms and lightning all over the place. I was scared to pull the shutters down on the shop in case I got elecrucuted.

All traffic lights out of action in the town centre, and I know for a fact the white man walking down the street with a towel on his head was not doing an impersonation of an religious person (as twas me):p
 
The problem with the Cheltenham area is that we are in a sort of "bowl" surrounded by hills. The heat is quite oppressive round here. Bad enough outside the hospital but even worse inside because of all the reflective surfaces bouncing heat back at each other.

One of our surgeons told me that it had reached 31 degrees in his operating theatre, despite the ventilation system. Not only is it bad to work in but increases the risk of infection. If it gets a few degrees hotter, operations will be cancelled. The aircon system was acting more like a heating system. My room was much warmer with it on, so I switched off and reverted to the old-fashioned fan.

My own method of coping is to work like crazy from 7.30am until about 2.00pm, then slow down and do nothing but the basic stuff. Bloody hell, I might even get a lunch break at this rate!
 
Shadow Leader said:
I'm impressed; that article was the latest NHS posting yet it's only dated a week ago. Bloody hell, that department of theirs must be a hell of a lot more efficient than any other! The NHS is a fecking disgrace.
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That's because the NHS has to deal with more patients than it was ever designed to cope with. How that's happened is probably best left to another topic.

Although it's a far from perfect system it's far better than the alternatives some countries have.
 
Thanks for the support, Imagine.

My own boss is of the opinion that the Great British Public will be getting the health service that they deserve - but that's another subject and story.
 
I reckon we should all enjoy the glorious weather hile we have it.

I was melting all day. 27 degrees in my classroom. 27 degrees outside. Bordering on the uncomfortable but I didn't have to fly to Greece to be in that temperature.

The only diffrence is that if I had gone to Greece I'd have made a point of booking a place with air-con. It was 27 degrees in my bedroom at 5am with the fan on.
 
imagine said:
That's because the NHS has to deal with more patients than it was ever designed to cope with. How that's happened is probably best left to another topic.

Although it's a far from perfect system it's far better than the alternatives some countries have.
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I tend to disagree. Someone said something to me about going to a country where there is no NHS. I'd prefer that in fact; pay insurance for a product actually worth having. As it is I pay thousands upon thousands every year alone for the square root of feck all in return. Let's not kid ourselves that I'll get it back in a state pension either as let's face it, by the time I retire there won't be one.

The NHS is not only a fecking disgrace; it's getting worse and it refuses to admit what a state it is in as they constantly fiddle their figures to meet targets. Gordon Brown should be proud that he's well and truly shafted the NHS over the last decade or so to the point where i doubt it can return effectively.

Do you know what the NHS definition of 'very urgent' is? "Three to four months; we'll write you a letter" is their bloody definition of it. Heads should roll; the National Health 'Service' is a pile of shite.

Back to the subject, I'm finding this talk of heatwaves hilarious. Christ alive, the temperature reaches 32 centigrade for a few days and the country literally melts down. This is nothing; and it's very cool during the night compared to living on the continent. Before anyone comes up with some wiseass comment about living with air conditioning on the continent that often isn't the case; in 4 1/2 years living in the Mediterranean I didn't live in one place that had air conditioning. Yet I managed to live through it without code red warnings issued!!

Mind you, not a lot else to be expected I guess. In this country, since we can't handle it, the whole place grinds to a halt in the event of any of the following :

- heat
- cold
- snow
- ice
- rain
- lack of rain
- wind

......any more to add to the list?!
 
You missed out frost - don't forget how we'll all starve to death when we get two consecutive nights of frost, because it'll kill all the vegetables. And the country will grind to a halt through lack of wind once we plonk down hundreds more wind turbines, you can be sure of that! Or it'll be the 'wrong sort' of wind, like the 'wrong sort' of leaves on the line, which sees our train 'service' brought to a standstill every second week through autumn. Does no other country with a railway line in it ever have the 'wrong sort' of leaves?

It's the usual summer madness, Shadz. I installed a large ceiling fan in the bedroom and another in the sitting-room. Sheer bliss - they're silent and they don't send papers flying around. Also got Venetian blinds to all windows, so can tilt them to 'repel' instead of 'receive' sunlight. A few spritzes with the water spray (for the indoor plants) cools the rooms, too.

We can enjoy the heatwave hysteria, then look forward to the wrong leaves falling in autumn, the wrong type of snowflakes for winter, and far too much/by no means enough water in Spring! Can't wait!
 
Shadow Leader said:
... fiddle their figures to meet targets. Gordon Brown should be proud that he's well and truly shafted the NHS over the last decade or so to the point where i doubt it can return effectively.
QUOTE]

It's the targets that have caused most of the problems in the last 10 years. The latest Health Secretary has promised to put less emphasis on them. The money that should have been spent on services for patients has gone onto a whole division of people whose sole occupation is monitoring whether or not various departments are achieving targets. My poor boss last week threw a total fit to find his name on the list that hightlights "under utilisation of theatre time" when he had actually been up on the wards administering anaesthetics to his patients so that they wouldn't have to hang around in the heat in the mobile theatre before being operated on. He saved about 45 minutes of theatre time and got all his ops done with 30 minutes to spare - then got a bollocking for being efficient.

The main problem is that we are being run by people who have no idea what is actually going on on the frontline - i.e. actual patient care.

I'm afraid that while so many people see their minor ailments as being more important than they are and demanding treatment that could be dealt with at the primary source (i.e. pharmacy or GP), those of you with major problems like Shadow will suffer due to their lack of common sense and inability (or refusal) to cope.

Furthermore, we are now dealing with a great number of people who are not actually paying taxes - which is another angle of something being dealt with on another thread.
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By the way - this is our latest weather warning!

Latest forecasts indicate the potential for a period of very heavy rainfall later in the night and during tomorrow. A narrow but intense area of rain is expected to reach Cornwall and western areas of Devon by around 0200 on Thursday morning and slowly edge eastwards through the day. Rainfall intensities will be sufficient to give surface water flooding and also flooding on minor water courses. At present the area at greatest risk is thought to be Devon, Cornwall and western areas of Somerset.

The situation is very different to recent periods of heavy and thundery showers as these generally have been of a "hit and miss" nature. The rainfall during tonight and tomorrow will be more organised with many areas in the at risk zone likely be affected by heavy rainfall. However, the more significant impacts such as flooding of roads, property flooding etc will be more localised.

Hope all is well for our West Country members.
 
You're not wrong, Krizon - and how dumb of me to forget frost!!

I know that it's the government that has screwed the NHS with their inane targets Redhead; I don't know all the mechanics of the system but I know the basics! Enough to know that the doctors, nurses etc are doing their best but are being shafted daily by those pricks obsessed with their 'targets'. It's a crying shame that that pillock Brown won't ever have to suffer the agony of being on a never ending waiting list when you needed surgery two years + ago! No, he sniffles and he's rushed straight in.

Actually, the worst part of it is the administrative staff in the waiting list offices who are worse than useless. The waiting list office doesn't bother answering their phones; they have an answerphone promising they'll get back to you and they're selective which messages they respond to - about one in three I reckon is the going rate. Then they throw vague comments at you like "I'll write to you"; "yes, I know you're marked as urgent"; "it'll be about two months" which morphs into "no, it was never going to be two months, it was always going to be three or four months"......arrrgggghhhhhh!!!!!
 
No no no it's the "Bed Manger" with medical knolage they score the wards for an empty bed, if you go for tests take it with or someone else will be it when you return other mooves include sawing the wheel off a good trolly so they can say youwere in a bed. I spent 6 days without getting into a ward the snag is that when your in limbo you don't get hot food just the odd sandwich, yes we love the N.H.S.
 
Well yesterdays floods have gone down and we finally have a heatwave yipppeeee, has to rain again tomorrow though :(

Martin, if you don't mind me asking - where abouts are you, our thunderstorms started at 3 yesterday, with torrential rain until well after 6.30 and we had no electric till this morning.

As for the NHS, well the big cheeses have virtually closed our local hopsital(opened in 2002costing £67 million) - midwife led baby unit, no scubu, no childrens ward, no A&E, stroke unit now like an old peoples home, in favour of an old falling to bits hospital miles away.... which, this is the best bit, will cost well over £30 million to get it to the standard of Bishops..........!!! Common sense is well and truely out of the window there.
 
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