ATLANTIS, Fla. — Local hospitals don't keep statistics on heat-related illnesses, but the chief emergency room doctor at JFK Hospital said this is the busiest summer his emergency room has been in the past five years.
Dr. Mazy Rouhani said a spike in heat stroke cases that led to ER admissions has been driven by people working outdoors, specifically roofers and landscapers.
Most heat stroke cases are mild, where workers are treated and released.
But in the last three weeks, Rouhani said JFK's Emergency Room treated two extreme cases.
Two workers were admitted with body temperatures of 108 degrees.
The maximum temperature hospital thermometers can record is 108 degrees.
"It's probably higher than that," Rouhani said. "So, if we had a thermometer that could measure higher they could be 110-111, which is extremely dangerous, so for every degree the temperature is going up, the risk of mortality increases as well."
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The workers who had those ultra-high temperatures suffered heat stroke but are now recovering. They were at one point in critical condition.
Doctors at the hospital expect them to spend weeks in the hospital and have to undergo dialysis.