In recent days, the Strategic Management of the Taranto ASL wanted to take stock of the actions and activities planned to protect people from the harmful effects of heat waves, with greater attention to the most vulnerable subjects, such as the elderly, children, people with pathologies or socially disadvantaged and patients hospitalized in the facilities.
In the presence of Gabriella Ficocelli, Councilor for Social Services of the Municipality of Taranto, the Strategic Direction of the ASL presented the “Plan for the prevention of the effects of heat on health” which includes joint actions on the territory with the collaboration of general practitioners, pediatricians of free choice and doctors of continuity of care to monitor the subjects most at risk due to high temperatures and prevent any problems related to them. “Protecting oneself from the heat is essential for everyone – stated the general director Vito Gregorio Colacicco – and this is why we have created a territorial social-health network, in which the health activities of the ASL are integrated with the social ones of the Municipality, in order to reach and protect the majority of the population. By following small tips it is possible to safeguard the health of all citizens, especially the fragile, from the risks of exposure to high temperatures, living their summer serenely”.
It is therefore important to follow the 10 simple rules for a safe summer, the subject of the communication campaign of the Ministry of Health: from avoiding going out or doing sports during the hottest hours, protecting yourself by drinking at least a liter and a half of water a day, avoiding alcohol, and eating light foods and lots of fruit and vegetables, to dressing in natural fibers, airing and cooling rooms, paying attention to the correct storage of food, offering assistance to people at greater risk and also protecting pets. In addition to these, there is the advice that the directors of the departments most affected by the type of patients have exposed, introduced by the medical director Aldo Minerba. Elderly patients with multimorbidity are more subject to the risk of dehydration, kidney failure and heat stroke, as underlined by Prof. Nicola Napoli, director of Medicine at the “Valle d’Itria” hospital, as well as heart patients and patients undergoing therapy with cardiological drugs who, according to Dr. Giovanni Luzzi, director of Cardiology at the Ss. Annunziata hospital, must be kept in cool, ventilated environments, monitoring blood pressure, heart rate and the hydration status of the mucous membranes. Monitoring hydration is essential, not only in cardiac patients who, in the presence of comorbidities, have an altered sensation of thirst, but also in newborns and infants, as highlighted by Dr. Lucrezia De Cosmo, director of Neonatology and Neonatal Intensive Care: it is important to give breast milk or formula to the youngest and water and fruit juices to children older than 4 or 6 months, avoiding carbonated drinks.
Further advice for newborns and children: refrigerate the rooms by keeping the temperature constant at 25-26 degrees without direct air jets, air the rooms at night or in the morning, use light clothing made of natural fibers, avoid direct exposure to the sun by preferring the cooler hours, from 8 to 10 and after 18. Paying attention to exposure to the sun is important for all subjects to avoid sunstroke or heat stroke, much more serious and more common in the elderly. This is what Dr. Giuseppe Turco of the Emergency Room of SS. Annunziata said, who also emphasized not to directly expose the head to high temperatures and to hydrate gradually to avoid a sharp increase in body temperature. Protecting yourself is also the watchword for Dr. Antonia Mincuzzi, director of the Statistics and Epidemiology Department and contact person for the company heat plan, according to whom, to cope with the high temperatures, higher and different than those recorded in previous years, it is advisable to use aids such as hats and umbrellas. Furthermore, to avoid problems with the circulatory system, it is advisable to air out cars exposed to the sun for many hours before entering.
To reach the greatest number of vulnerable subjects, especially people with pathologies, teleconsultation activity is also planned, by the Department of Primary Care, directed by Dr. Giuseppina Ronzino, and by the socio-health districts, represented in today’s meeting by Dr. Guido Cardella, director of the Single Social Health District of Taranto. To address the emergency typical of this period, the Ionian ASL, through the structures, whose medical directions, represented by Dr. Cosima Farilla, are ready to adapt and activate all the actions envisaged in the “Plan for the prevention of the effects of heat on health” also counting on the common sense of citizens.
