Maharashtra govt lays down SOP for hospitals to identify heatwave deaths

NAGPUR: The state government has issued guidelines for government and private hospitals in March this year to ensure deaths related to the heatwave and heat strokes are correctly identified and recorded, and informing the local civic body.
In the period between March 1 and June 15, the government has urged hospitals to follow a set of norms to identify a heatwave death, especially when the patients arrive in unconscious state, is declared brought dead, or succumbs to health complications during the course of treatment. The guidelines instruct the hospitals to be more accurate in their death audit rather than labelling them as ‘heart attack’ and other causes without proper verification.

Until the patients has a known history of co-morbidities, suffering from an illness over a prolonged period, or has died of a contagious disease, the government has laid down a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the hospitals to follow to identify heatwave deaths. This, in the long run, would help in formulation of mitigating measures and policies to tackle the menace.
The government guidelines underline the fact that hospitals must try to collect data regarding the personal history of the patient, like where he or she resided, where the person worked, what was his livelihood, whether the area from where he or she belonged was a heat-prone one, the socio-economic condition of the victim, age and so on.
Dr Anup Marar, convener, Vidarbha Hospitals Association, said hospitals with casualty wards have mostly prepared heat wave beds with necessary arrangements. “As per the norms, the hospitals do share their records related to heatwave patients with local civic bodies. The local authorities have already alerted us about the heatwave norms, which are now being followed,” said Marar.
Civil surgeon Dr Nivrutti Rathod said the SOPs regarding preparedness, treatment protocols and reporting methods have already been communicated to hospitals and health institutions. “We have already sensitized health care provider and manpower working there regarding the heatwave treatment, diagnosis of symptoms, and protocols. Instructions have been issued but regarding death audits due to heatwave, it may require more focussed effort, so the identification of a heatstroke victim is properly done without fail,” said Dr Rathod. “Collecting relevant history of the patients is of utmost importance,” he added.