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A handful of people were hospitalized for possible heat stroke during Ottawa’s heat wave, but the city’s paramedics did not see a dramatic spike in calls.
From Monday to Thursday there were six heat-related hospitalizations.
Marc-Antoine Deschamps, public information officer for the paramedic service, said an elderly man was taken to hospital with possible heat exhaustion.
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On Wednesday, a woman was hospitalized in critical condition with possible heat stroke. On Tuesday, paramedics attended to two elderly people who had heat stroke, both of whom were taken to hospital in stable condition, and on Monday two men were also taken to hospital after working out in the heat of the day.
Deschamps noted the heat can exacerbate chronic illnesses or existing conditions, so not all calls were immediately known to be related to the temperature. But, he added, paramedics didn’t see a significant spike in calls.
As of Friday, Environment Canada has lifted heat warnings for most of Ontario, including Ottawa, Quebec, and Atlantic Canada, as temperatures fell back below 30 degrees.
Earlier in the week, though, temperatures peaked around 33 C, with humidity making the weather feel like 44 C. Temperatures in the Ottawa region neared record highs, said Jennifer Smith, a national warning preparedness meteorologist for Environment and Climate Change Canada.
Heat warnings remain place for southwestern Ontario, where the weather agency says dangerously hot and humid conditions could linger into next week.
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The intense “heat dome” event had the potential to be life-threatening,
Nick DeFazio, public information officer for the Ottawa Fire Service, said fire crews attended more than 200 residential buildings that were considered high-risk or vulnerable during the stifling heat.
“Our fire prevention officers, shout out to them, they really dropped everything to go out and help,” he said Friday. Fire crews checked to see if the buildings had cooling rooms or air conditioning, and checked in on tenants.
Firefighters also assisted during the water main break at CHEO, he said, bringing in water, fans and generators to the children’s hospital, where an abrupt water main break severed its water supply, cutting off air conditioning to parts of the hospital.
Some elective surgeries and appointments were cancelled Tuesday due to the water main break, but the “Code Grey” was lifted around 10:15 p.m.
With files from the Canadian Press.
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