After struggling to cool down patients suffering from heatstroke during last week’s record-breaking heat, several French hospitals have now adopted a new strategy: they are ordering their own ice machines.
During the heat wave, several hospitals in the Paris area ran out of ice. Staff were then forced to buy ice from fast-food chains and grocery stores to cool down patients suffering from heatstroke. The chief of surgery at Paris-Saclay Hospital, Cédric Lussiez, now openly admits that it overestimated its preparedness.
"We thought we were ready. But we actually weren't.", he says.
The heat wave has been described as ”horrible,” and now hospitals want to make sure they have immediate access to ice the next time temperatures rise. Orders for ice machines have already been placed—in the hope that they’ll be delivered before the next heat wave hits.
Perhaps it’s time to add an ”ice machine” to the list of standard equipment in French emergency rooms, alongside defibrillators and oxygen.
Oh well… just make sure the rooms have AC