Advice for elderly to fight the heat

The people most vulnerable to heat waves were aged over 75 who suffered from chronic conditions such as renal failure, took diuretics, or suffered from dementia and might forget to drink, the director of health care services standards, Richard Zammit, said.

He was speaking during a news conference on the Heat Wave Committee set up before summer last year to inform homes for the elderly and other places where there might be elderly people what they should do in heat waves.

A heat wave is on when the stress index is over 45 or when the temperature is over 32 degrees Celcius for more than three days running, accompanied by a high dew point.

As soon as the Met Office learns of a heat wave, it informs the committee, which, in turn, seeks toinfrom the elderly through Telecare and local councils.

Parliamentary Secretary for the Elderly Mario Galea said that air conditioners in homes for the elderly were being checked daily and more than €600,000 had been spent in the installation of ACs, chillers and in maintenance this year.

Another €55,000 were spent to install air conditioners at Karen Grech hospital where there are 155 elderly in five wards.

Following consultation with the residents, the menu had now being adapted giving the residents more fresh fruit and vegetables, which had a lot of liquids to help avoid dehydration.

He said that the sun should be avoided between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m., one should drink lots of water and keep a wet towel to freshen up.