Govt brings in 'heat code' at ERs

(ANSA) - ROME, JUL 17 - The health ministry sent a circular letter to Italy's regional governments on Monday with a series of recommendations to manage the impact of the intense heatwave the country is enduring.
    These recommendations include setting up a 'heat code' at emergency rooms with special, priority procedures for people suffering heat-related health issues.
    They also call for the creation of special USCAR units to provide care for people at home, especially for vulnerable groups like the elderly, and prevent ER's being overwhelmed by people going to casualty with problems that could be solved elsewhere.
    The letter tells the regions to boost out-of-hours doctor services too.
    Temperatures are forecast to climb as high as 47° Celsius in areas of southern Sardinia this week, 45 or 46° in Sicily and 45° in the province of Foggia, in Puglia.
    In Rome, which The Times has called "The Infernal City" because of the heat it is suffering, temperatures are expected to climb to 42 or 43° on Tuesday.
    A study coordinated by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health and published in the Nature Medicine journal last week estimated that over 18,000 people died in Italy due to the intense heat the nation endured last summer.
    Scientists say the climate crisis caused by human greenhouse gas emissions is making extreme weather events such as heat waves, drought, supercharged storms and flooding more frequent and more intense (ANSA).