“This is directly affecting how I deliver healthcare”: Doctor joins call to action to prepare health system for more severe heat days

During the Black Summer bushfires of 2019/20, eastern suburbs-based gastroenterologist Dr Christopher Leung came into work at a Melbourne hospital while he and his children were “choking” on the smoke outside.

👨‍⚕️ Healthcare barriers: Leung, Deputy Chair of Doctors for the Environment Australia, had to do an endoscopy - a procedure in which he puts a small camera down the patient’s throat to  look at their stomach and pinpoint internal bleeding.

“I entered the theatre, and to my shock and absolute dismay, I could not use the emergency theatre because of the smoke,” he told the Eastern Melburnian. “The smoke had overcome the filters in a hospital where you need to do life-saving procedures and surgery.

“It was at that point that I absolutely realised this is directly affecting how I deliver healthcare.”

🌡️ A stark outline: The National Climate Risk Assessment report, released on Monday, details how climate change threatens and will continue to endanger our communities, economy and health.

🤒 More hot days: Currently, there are about four days of extreme heat per year in Australia.  According to the CSIRO, extreme heat days are defined as days where the average Australian temperature is in the top one percent of records.

The report showed this would increase to 18 days per year under a 3°C warming scenario.

Global warming is currently confirmed at 1.2ºC above the pre-industrial average temperature from the late 1800s. However, warming across Australia has already reached 1.5ºC.

Domino effect: The report said extreme heat, bushfires and poor air quality from smoke would escalate health risks, while people with pre-existing health conditions, young people, people who work outside and elderly populations would be the most vulnerable.

Leung said extreme heat presented a range of dangers to the human body, including heat exhaustion, heat stress and heat stroke, the latter of which can be fatal within a few hours if not treated.

“Overheating worsens the symptoms of other chronic diseases,” he told the Eastern Melburnian. “If you've got heart problems, lung problems, lung and kidney disease, it puts an extra strain on those organs.”

🥵 How to stay safe: “Make sure you keep cool and stay hydrated, seek shade or fans if you don't have air conditioning, and go to public areas like community and shopping centres,” Leung said.

Local impact: From 2016 to 2019, 1,009 deaths in Australia were attributable to heatwaves, according to researchers from Monash University’s School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, who co-authored a recent study into heatwave-related mortality.

Areas where the study found a high mortality rate due to heatwave-related illnesses included Wantirna (1.4 deaths per 100,000), Bayswater (1.3 per 100,000) and Blackburn South (one per 100,000).

What’s next? Leung said the report was a “shocking” glimpse into what Australia’s future could look like, and should serve as a “call for action” for the country’s health system and the broader Australian community.

“As doctors, if we see that you've got a serious bacterial infection, we don't just give you an ice pack,” he said. “We give you antibiotics to tackle the root of the infection.

“Within our generation, we can mitigate or turn some of this around, so that we're not hit with the full brunt of three degrees of warming.”

Photo Credit: New Matilda