Third day of heat is the one to beware of
Sydney Morning Herald
Wednesday February 2, 2011
HOSPITALS are bracing for a rise in heat-related admissions today as NSW swelters through a third day of hot weather.Temperatures are expected to nudge 40 degrees in the western suburbs after they peaked at 43 yesterday and 41 on Monday.Public health experts said day three of a heat wave was more dangerous than earlier days with hotter peaks, with people calling ambulances or visiting emergency departments as their bodies gave in to the immense pressure placed on them by the weather."The longer the heat lasts, the more likely it is that people won't be able to cope any more," said Vicky Sheppeard, a public health physician with NSW Health.The people most likely to be affected had pre-existing conditions such as asthma, heart disease or mental illness, but those without chronic conditions could suffer."People at risk include outdoor workers and people who continue with normal activities like exercise without preparing," she said.Thousands of NSW school students have been forced to endure the heat in non-air conditioned classrooms.The temperature is set to hit 40 degrees at Richmond, in Sydney's west, today and the local public school, Colo High, has no air-conditioning in more than half of its classrooms."My kids are sweltering out here," said the school's principal, Allan De Paoli.The school could only afford to install air-conditioning in upper-level classrooms and, because of low ceilings, some rooms didn't have ceiling fans.The state government has revealed that eight out of 10 new classrooms built under the Building the Education Revolution scheme were not fitted with air-conditioning.The weather also pushed electricity consumption to a record level of 14,744 megawatts yesterday. This exceeded the previous summer demand peak of 14,101MW reached on February 6, 2009, and the state's all-time record of 14,289MW, which occurred during the winter of 2008.The increased use of air conditioners has pushed summer usage to new highs.
© 2011 Sydney Morning Herald
