Heat Wave Endangers Elderly in USA

Soaring temperatures in parts of the USA have caused health problems, even deaths. Record highs were broken in Washington (105), St. Louis (106), and Indianapolis (104). AP cited that at least 30 deaths were due to the heat, including nine in Maryland and 10 in Chicago, mostly among the elderly. Three elderly people in Ohio were discovered dead in their houses from high temperatures in homes without power due to of recent outages.

"This is becoming a black swan of heat waves, in the sense that it's such a long heat wave, such a severe heat wave and encompassing such a large area," Chris Vaccaro, spokesman for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration told AP.

The media source reported that others sought out conventional ways to stay cool: visiting movie theaters and riding air conditioned public transport. Younger people in South Bend, IN, took to the East Race Waterway, a 1,900-foot long manmade whitewater course near downtown. Some competitors rolled over their vessel many times to keep cool.

But for the elderly, Assisted Living and Continuing Care residences had to take special care to keep residents cool and hydrated.