Hospital ERs no busier than usual during heat wave

While the heat wave in the Northern Rockies continues largely unabated, local emergency rooms reported that for the most part, people are staying out of harm’s way.

Dr. Scott Burry, an emergency room doctor at Kalispell Regional Medical Center, said the heat hasn’t caused any sizable uptick in the number of ER visits.

“We’re not really seeing a whole lot of heat-related injuries,” he said. “We’ve had some sunburns, sure, and stuff somewhat related to heat, but no cases of heat stroke.”

With temperatures in Northwest Montana topping 100 degrees and setting heat records several days recently, the fact that people are taking care of themselves has led to a welcome lull.

“It’s all been kind of business as usual,” Burry said. “We aren’t seeing a lot of passing-out episodes. I think people realize it’s pretty hot and are taking some steps to hydrate and stay out of the sun.”

At North Valley Hospital in Whitefish, doctors had not seen collapses or heat stroke cases that could be expected for a historic heat wave.

Catherine Todd, North Valley’s senior director of business development and community relations, said the emergency room was doing normal business.

“They indicated they had not seen any heat-related conditions coming into the emergency room,” she said. “However, over the Fourth of July weekend they expected to see some heat-related conditions, especially those in conjunction with drinking alcohol.”

Alcohol and heat lead to rapid dehydration, but a ban on the use of fireworks may have been a factor in keeping people out of the ER.

“We’ve seen hikers and heat-related things and a smattering of sunburns,” Burry said. “But really nothing major.”

Reporter Ryan Murray can be reached at 758-4436 or rmurray@dailyinterlake.com.