Focus on patient safety - « Heatwaves: hospital inpatients and care facility residents ... Cool patients off before they pay the price »

Context

Climate change is causing - and will continue to cause - increasingly frequent and intense heatwaves in France. Hospital inpatients and care facility residents are not impervious to heatstroke, dehydration and hyponatraemia, which can have serious consequences.

Objective

By sharing feedback from professionals, this Focus on patient safety aims to draw attention and raise awareness among hospital and care facility staff, as well as their patients and residents, relating to some of the risks appearing as a result of climate change.

So it doesn’t happen again

In the event of a heatwave, it is essential to :

• keep people cool and well hydrated;
• carry out specific monitoring of the most vulnerable individuals;
• determine the role of each professional.