Impact of heat waves on patients presenting to the emergency department of a tertiary care hospital - A single center cross-sectional study.

In the present cross-sectional study we aimed to identify factors associated with morbidity and mortality in patients during the heat wave period (June 17th till 23rd, 2015) in the emergency department. The inclusion criteria of the study was core temperature >38 degree Celsius and signs of dehydration recorded in-patient notes and CNS dysfunction without infection recorded through GCS. Of 400 patients mortality was observed in 50 patients (12.7%) of which majority were males (54%). Of the non-survivors, 27.3% had prior history of cerebrovascular accident. Difference was noted in clinical presentation among non-survivors with unconsciousness (14%) and gasping (12%). Differences were noted in median of platelets [251(190-331) versus 183.5(155-228.5)] and Creatinine [1.1(0.9-1.7) versus 2.1(1.4-2.4)] between survivors and non-survivors. Majority of non-survivors had deranged coagulation profile and hypoxaemia.