Heat Wave Means Record-Setting Week At Local Hospital
BOSTON (CBS) -- Deirdre Fitzsimons, her kids and her friends were some of the many beach-goers at Lane Beach in Weymouth Thursday, finding a place to beat the heat.
"The only place you can be is at the ocean, too hot to be inland," said Fitzsimons.
But all the fun in the summer sizzle can turn dangerous quickly.
At South Shore Hospital in Weymouth it has been a record-setting week with many patients, especially seniors and people with respiratory issues, coming in with heat-related symptoms.
"We usually see 225 to 230 patients a day," said Dr. Jason Tracy, Chief of Emergency Medicine. "Monday we saw 313 patients, a lot of heat-related injuries or ailments."
Tracy says it is not just the elderly and people with chronic health conditions who can face problems in the extremely hot temperatures, it is also younger people who sometimes do not think they can be so affected by the weather.
Kim Duprey and her landscaping crew from Skinner Overlook Landscape and Design have been at it each day this week, up to 10 hours a day, even while wearing work boots and gloves to work on a new yard and driveway at a house in Weymouth.
"I would love to wear a bathing suit out here," said Duprey.
But the heavy gear is necessary to haul granite slabs, tear up the yard, and fix the driveway.
While working hard under the relentless sun, the trio said they were still doing their best to stay hydrated and trying not to become a statistic like so many others at the nearby hospital.
