Clinics and nursing homes also face challenges in the comparatively cool north due to the high temperatures. “In Schleswig-Holstein, too, the frequency and duration of heat waves are increasing with ever higher temperatures. The clinics in our state are also inadequately prepared for this consequence of climate change,” said the managing director of the Schleswig-Holstein Hospital Association (KGSH), Patrick Reimund.
According to him, the intensive care units are often air-conditioned. “The normal stations usually cannot yet be cooled. The strain on patients and employees is considerable when outside temperatures are sometimes more than 30 degrees.”
Light meals, drinking sessions and increased observation
Older people in particular are at risk of overheating. With age, the ability to thermoregulate decreases, and the feeling of thirst and warmth is often reduced, as a spokeswoman for the Alloheim Group, which operates 29 inpatient care facilities in Schleswig-Holstein, said. In combination with previous illnesses and certain medications, this increases the risk of insufficient fluid intake and overheating.
“This is one of the reasons why we actively monitor and document fluid intake via drinking protocols instead of relying on residents’ feeling of thirst,” said the spokeswoman. A heat protection concept applies to all Alloheim Group facilities, which includes, among other things, regular drinking sessions and protocols, adapting activities to the temperatures and increasing observation of particularly vulnerable residents.
According to a spokesman for the DRK regional association, the DRK nursing homes in Schleswig-Holstein have individual heat protection concepts. The basic rule is: Make sure you are adequately hydrated, protect yourself from direct sunlight and eat lighter meals. Mobile air conditioning units and fans are also used in many places. The German Red Cross operates 32 full-time and 19 part-time care facilities in Schleswig-Holstein.
Historical old buildings are often inadequately insulated
According to a spokesman, all sensitive treatment areas at the University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein (UKSH), including operating rooms, intensive care units and emergency rooms, are air-conditioned. Rooms with particularly high heat loads and patient rooms where this is necessary for medical reasons are also air-conditioned.
“Extreme temperatures of almost 40 degrees pose major challenges for the UKSH and, for structural reasons, there may be increased temperatures in the interior spaces,” said the spokesman. The clinic has more than 100 buildings at both locations, including many historic old buildings with listed buildings as well as modular and wooden buildings with insufficient insulation or shading options.
Heat protection at the UKSH plays a major role in new buildings, extensions and renovations, as the spokesman said. “Ongoing modernizations are also being used to improve heat protection.”
Blinds and heat protection films in patient rooms
The Helios Clinic in Schleswig said, “We and our teams are prepared for further rising temperatures in order to ensure safe care.” According to a spokeswoman, various measures are being implemented to limit the effects of the heat. The intensive care unit and operating rooms are therefore air-conditioned. In normal wards, for example, window shades and chilled drinks help to reduce heat exposure. Patients who are particularly sensitive to heat or who are seriously ill are moved to cooler areas if necessary.
The West Coast Clinics, with its locations in Heide and Brunsbüttel (Dithmarschen district), installed cooling systems when the operating room and intensive care unit were built more than 15 years ago, as a company spokesman said. Functional rooms with large equipment, such as in radiology, are also air-conditioned. Many other areas therefore have modern ventilation technology. In addition, all patient rooms have blinds. In particularly exposed areas, the windows are covered with heat protection films.
KGSH: Pay more attention to structural heat protection in new buildings
In the short and medium term, according to the KGSH managing director, the installation of air conditioning systems or the purchase of mobile systems can improve the situation. “When building new hospital buildings, greater emphasis than before must be placed on structural heat protection, for example through appropriate alignment or shading of facades,” said Reimund.
Enormous investment needs
The regional association of the German Red Cross emphasized that there was a desire to implement additional structural measures for heat protection. One goal, for example, is to set up cooling or air-conditioning rooms in which residents, patients and employees can cool down.
“In view of the enormous investment requirements and the currently limited financial scope, this is only possible if appropriate investment funds are made available,” it says.
According to the KGSH, a nationwide report has shown a financial requirement of more than 30 billion euros for necessary climate protection measures, including the cooling of buildings, which would have to be made available in addition. According to the information, the states are responsible for investment costs. And even if the sums are high, they are urgently needed, according to managing director Reimund, “since climate and heat protection is not about comfort or even luxury, but about avoiding many unnecessary deaths”.
According to the company spokesman, retrofitting all buildings with air conditioning at the west coast clinics alone would cost several million euros and would have to be borne by the state as an investment in the clinic infrastructure. “As a clinic, we are not in a position to invest in air conditioning systems from our non-existent funds due to the already inadequate financing from the payers.”
