ER doctors see ‘invisible tsunami’ in heat waves

The link to heart, respiratory and kidney illness is often missed, they say.

- BY MARCOS MAGAÑA

HEAT is a "threat multiplier" for other conditions. Above, a worker on a hot day.

Across Southern California, emergency room workers are primed for the wave of patients that pour in as heat waves like the current one drag into their second, third and fourth days.

Heat takes an accumulating toll on the body, especially when people cannot cool down at night with air conditioning.

Dr. Jennifer Roh, medical director of the adult emergency medicine department at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, said preparation means hydration supplies, ice packs and other cooling devices at the ready.

Emergency room doctors, nurses and technicians see the obvious cases of heat illness and heat exhaustion, of course, with fainting and cramps among the symptoms.

Heat stroke is the most severe version of heat-related illness and can be life-threatening.

But some doctors say their profession is less adept at recognizing that heat may be the reason some patients come in presenting with other illnesses.

Heat waves are like an “invisible tsunami,” said Dr. Marc Futernick, an emergency physician in Los Angeles. They can exacerbate heart disease, kidney problems and respiratory illnesses.