Jharkhand Heatwave Preparedness: NHM Directs Districts to Strengthen Heatstroke Prevention and Treatment

Ranchi: With temperature recording a rise across the state, the Jharkhand chapter of the National Health Mission (NHM) directed the civil surgeons of all 24 districts to strengthen preparations for prevention, monitoring, and treatment of heatwave-related illnesses.Issuing the advisory, NHM director Shashi Prakash Jha urged the civil surgeons to ensure adequate arrangements in hospitals to efficiently attend to patients suffering from heat-related illnesses.The advisory recommended that civil surgeons immediately transfer a patient suffering from heatstroke to a higher facility using a 108 ambulance, to reduce deaths due to heatstroke.NHM director Jha said, “All medical facilities in the districts have been directed to allot five beds to set up a heatstroke management unit to provide treatment to patients suffering from heatstroke.

“All patients coming to the outpatient departments must necessarily be checked for heatstroke-related illnesses. Also, intravenous fluid, oral rehydration solution (ORS), essential medicine and equipment must be available in district hospitals and community health centres across the state. Water coolers and fans must also be installed at the OPDs for the patients,” he said.The advisory also directed the creation of awareness among the public about heat-related illnesses at district and block levels through members of self-help groups.

“The patients suffering from heat-related illnesses should be transferred to the district hospital only after providing adequate preliminary treatment at community health centres. Community health centres have to ensure coordination with the nearest district hospital to ensure that the district hospital receives advance notice of any patient referral. During referrals, the 108 ambulance should be equipped with necessary heat protection equipment, including ice packs, cold water, towels, ORS packets, ice cubes, IV fluids, anti-diarrhoeal drugs,” the advisory stated.Meanwhile, maximum temperatures were steadily rising across the state. Ranchi recorded a maximum temperature of 30.4°C, 0.9°C above normal, Jamshedpur 34.6°C, 1°C above normal, Daltonganj 33.7°C, a 1.5°C rise from normal, Bokaro 35.1°C, a 5.5°C rise from normal, and Chaibasa 34.8°C, a rise of 4.1°C above normal, the highest in the state on Thursday.A weather bulletin issued by the Ranchi office of the India Meteorological Department stated that the state would not record any major shift in maximum temperature in the next two days. However, the maximum temperature is likely to increase by 2–3°C from March 8 to March 11.