Black Saturday - Australian Red Cross

P14 the Humanitarianeasingrecordthe effects ofheatwaveHeadline reproduced courtesy of The Advertiser/Sunday Mail.When South Australians were subjectedto a record-breaking heatwave for eightconsecutive days, more than 600 heatrelatedhospital admissions occurredover four days, health facilities werestretched to the limit and many electivesurgeries were cancelled. A temporarymorgue was required to handle theoverflow from the increased number ofdeaths. The heatwave proved to be anemergency situation and put lives at risk.Red Cross immediately expanded itsdaily phone call service to elderly peopleliving alone in collaboration with the StateGovernment’s emergency managementresponse, according to Kerry Symons, ofRed Cross in South Australia.‘We were very worried by the fact thatso many people all over South Australiaare living by themselves, often with veryfew connections to the community,’Kerry said.Phone calls were made to more than6,000 people who were deemed atrisk, in addition to the existing 700clients. Calls were also offered threetimes a day during the heatwave, asopposed to the usual daily phone call.The Telecross heatwave responsehelped save three lives.In one instance, a woman living in regionalSouth Australia failed to answer her call.Her daughter was alerted and found hermother had collapsed, so she took herto the hospital.Another caller discovered the father of atwo-year-old autistic boy and two otherchildren was suffering from the heat andworried about his ability to go shoppingfor his family. He also said he had limitedfamily support. Red Cross notifiedDisability South Australia who providedongoing assistance.The week-long operation was supportedby over 500 volunteers who assisted theregular Red Cross team. Together, theymade over 15,000 calls. They not onlychecked on the recipients’ wellbeingwhen they made the calls, but alsoprovided practical advice about howto keep safe during extreme weatherconditions. If at any time a call wasnot answered, immediate emergencyprocedures were activated to check onthe person’s welfare.People who were considered the mostvulnerable to the heatwave includedelderly, carers, children, people withexisting chronic health problems or witha disability, and people from culturallydiverse backgrounds.