When a nursing home in southern Mexico began feeling the scorching heat of the country’s ongoing heatwave, staff let elderly residents rotate through their few cooling options.
Emergency services in Veracruz are dealing with a rise in heatstroke emergencies (Reuters)
First, spectators are seated in front of roaring fans in the sweltering heat of Veracruz, then they are moved in front of one of the building’s precious few air conditioners, before being whisked back into the record-breaking heat that is now ravaging the state of Veracruz.
They will do whatever it takes to survive the heatwaves caused by climate change, many parts of Mexico are suffering from an increasing number of deaths from these heatwaves.
“We have never experienced a heatwave this intense, this powerful, this widespread and this long-lasting,” said María Teresa Mendoza, director of the Cogra nursing home, which has operated for decades in the port of Veracruz. “Many people have died in Veracruz during this heatwave.”
At least 125 people have died from the heat in the Latin American country this year, according to health ministry data, while more than 2,300 more have suffered from heatstroke, dehydration and sunburn.
The number of heatstroke deaths in Mexico and its huge ripple effects highlight how climate change and global warming are disproportionately affecting the world’s most vulnerable people.
Nearly a third of the deaths occurred in Veracruz, a humid Gulf coast state where temperatures have reached 100 degrees Fahrenheit, leaving caregivers like Mendoza scrambling to ease the suffering of patients.
On Sunday, Mendoza stood before a group of elderly women sitting in rocking chairs, many of them with their heads drooping in the heat, barely able to feel the heat from the fans whirring in front of them.
“Let’s have some water, okay?” she said. “Those are my girls.”
The heat is having a cascading effect across Mexico. In southern Mexico, howler monkeys and tropical birds have fallen to their deaths from trees. Residents, worried the heat will worsen an ongoing drought, rush to fill jugs of water. Migrants are walking north with little relief from the scorching sun.
Emergency services in Veracruz are responding to an increase in heatstroke emergencies in locations such as warehouses and outdoor spaces.
David Zebadua Escalente, Veracruz state relief coordinator for the Mexican Red Cross, said medical workers were responding to as many as five cases of heatstroke a day, leading teams to start equipping ambulances with ice and other gear to save lives.
“We had to take steps like putting ice packs, cold liquids and cold compresses in the ambulances to treat people with heatstroke,” he said.
He said health care workers often treat people who work in the hot sun for long periods with few breaks or hydration, making them more susceptible to heatstroke.
Meanwhile, construction workers like Jorge Misael Rodriguez continue to work, drenched in sweat as he moves heavy equipment, bricks and planks around the site.
“I get feverish, I get aches and pains, I get a bad headache. When I get home, the pain starts in my shoulders, my back, my arms,” Rodriguez said, taking a break to sip some water. “It’s a lot of pain.”
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Janetsky contributed from Mexico City.
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