As many American cities get hotter... Wildfire-ravaged Maui has thousands of Filipino residents

can quickly get out of the heat and into an air-conditioned place, generally they’ll recover from heat exhaustion on their own. otherwise, their core temperature will continue to rise.

As internal body temperature approaches 104 degrees, people start to suffer from heatstroke.

“once you move to heatstroke, your body stops compensating,” Carriere said. “You stop sweating. You’re hot. You’re dry. And your organs are basically frying themselves from the inside out.” once a heatstroke patient is loaded into the ambulance, the crew races them to a nearby hospital, Carriere said. At University medical Center, New orleans’ largest hospital, doctors and nurses will continue efforts to quickly lower the person’s body temperature and replace fluids by IV, if necessary.

When a person stops sweating, it becomes even harder for the body to cool itself down. During heatstroke, people may experience other severe symptoms like an altered state of mind, confusion, and a rapid, erratic pulse. they may even lose consciousness. Without medical intervention, heatstroke can be deadly. ems responders start treatment immediately after they arrive on the scene. “We’ll get them on a gurney, get them into the unit, start removing their clothing, and put ice packs wherever applicable to try to cool them down,” said Carriere.

“When the patient ends up at the hospital, we’re going to continue that cooling process,” said Jeffrey elder, medical director for emergency management at UmC. “We’re going to put them in an ice water bath,” and, he added, “we may use some misting fans and some cold fluids to get their body temperature down to a reasonable temperature while we’re supporting all the other bodily functions.” elder said that while it always gets hot in New orleans during the summer, his emergency room has been treating more heat-related illnesses in 2023 than ever before. A few patients have died from the heat. UmC has been struggling with staffing challenges since the beginning of the pandemic, just like many other hospital systems elsewhere. But to prepare for an influx of patients with heat-related illnesses, UmC has prioritized staffing of the emergency department, elder said.

Getting a patient’s core temperature down as quickly as possible is what will ultimately save their life. one way doctors can speed that along is by burying a patient in ice. In some parts of the country, doctors have placed patients inside body bags prepacked with pounds of ice.

Body bags are especially useful in these cases because they are waterproof and designed to closely fit the human form.

UmC’s emergency room doesn’t use body bags, but during the summer staffers keep bags of ice ready at all times.

“on the stretcher, we’ll use some of the sheets as kind of a barrier,” elder said. “And while they’re on the stretcher, we’ll just put the ice on them right then and there.” hospital staffers will continue to work to cool a patient down until their temperature gets below 100.

Across the country, meteorological events like heat waves and heat domes will become more frequent and intense in the future, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“extreme summer heat is increasing in the United states,” said Claudia Brown, a health scientist with the CDC’s Climate and health Program. “And climate projections are indicating that extreme heat events will be more frequent and intense in the coming decades.” health infrastructure will be challenged to keep up to treat patients suffering from extreme heat exposure. In New orleans, both first responders and doctors say they expect to see more patients with heat-related illnesses.

“We haven’t even gotten to the hottest part yet, which is typically August to september,” said Carriere. “so I’m expecting it to get pretty bad.” there are 4,560 filipinos in devastated Lahaina, or 39% of 12,000 total number of residents. the 2015 County Data Book shows maui’s filipino population at nearly 28,000, or about 17% of the 163,000 residents. As of press time, there are no available reports on their condition resulting from the conflagration. maui resident Dustin Kaleiopu on thursday said his family, now on the other side of maui, had only had minutes to evacuate and lost two generational family homes to the flames.

This article is from a partnership that includes Gulf States Newsroom, NPr, and KFF Health News.

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces indepth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism.

KAhULUI, hawaii — the death toll from a wildfire that swept through the picturesque resort town of Lahaina on hawaii’s maui island has risen to 36, authorities said, as the blaze left smoldering ruins in its wake and forced thousands to flee the devastation.

Video footage showed neighborhoods and businesses razed and vehicles burnt to a crisp across the western side of the island as the wildfires cut off most roads out of Lahaina, the largest tourist destination on maui and home to multiple large hotels.

“there are still so many people that we are unable get in touch with, and that still remains true for many families here,” Kaleiopu said in an interview on NBC News’ “today” program. “everyone I know is now homeless.” such scenes of devastation have become all too familiar elsewhere in the world this summer. Wildfires, often caused by record-setting heat, forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of people in Greece, spain, Portugal and other parts of europe. In western Canada, a series of unusually severe fires sent clouds of smoke over vast swathes of the U.s., polluting the air. human-caused climate change, driven by fossil fuel use, is increasing the frequency and intensity of such extreme weather events, scientists say, having long warned that government officials must slash emissions to prevent climate catastrophe. on maui, firefighters were battling three separate blazes on the island, officials said late on Wednesday night, without providing further details. officials said on Wednesday, August 9 that the fires also destroyed parts of Kula, a residential area in the inland, mountainous Upcountry region. fires were also affecting Kihei in south maui. hawaii’s Lieutenant Governor sylvia Luke told a press conference late on Wednesday that officials were still assessing the damage.

“It will be a long road to recovery,” she said.

Distant hurricane fanned flames the blazes began on tuesday night, August 8 as powerful winds from hurricane Dora, hundreds of miles to the southwest, fanned the flames. some 271 structures were damaged or destroyed, the honolulu star-Advertiser reported, citing official reports from flyovers conducted by the Us Civil Air Patrol and the maui fire Department. the wildfires spread quickly through populated areas of the city of 13,000 people. some people were forced to jump into the Pacific ocean to escape the smoke and fire conditions, prompting the U.s. Coast Guard to rescue them, according to a maui County press release. others raced to evacuate as clouds of smoke billowed over once-idyllic beaches and palm trees.

“I was the last one off the dock when the firestorm came through the banyan trees and took everything with it. And I just ran out and helped everyone I could along the way,” said Dustin Johnson, who was in Lahaina harbor working for a charter boat company that offers two-hour tours. he spoke from Kahului Airport, normally a 25-minute drive east of Lahaina. officials said they were looking into witness reports of people being trapped in their cars. more than 11,000 travelers were evacuated from maui, ed sniffen of the hawaii Department of transportation said late on Wednesday. though at least 16 roads were closed, the airport was operating fully and airlines were dropping fares and offering waivers to get people off the island, sniffen had said earlier in the day. A mass bus evacuation to the Kahului Airport for visitors in West maui was to resume at 8:30 a.m. on thursday, officials said. s outhwest Airlines said on thursday , August 10 that it was increasing flights to hawaii due to the evacuation efforts. the National Guard, U.s. Navy, marines and Coast Guard were mobilized, while the U.s. Department of transportation aided evacuation efforts, Biden said. the cause in maui had yet to be determined but the National Weather service said the fires were fueled by a mix of dry vegetation, strong winds, and low humidity. (inquirer.net)

Jordan Clarkson, now in Manila...

aboard Philippine Airlines Pr 103.

Clarkson, who is returning for a third tour of duty for the Philippines, is set to be on the cutting edge of Gilas once the global meet unfurls on August 25.

Gilas coach Chot reyes said in an earlier interview that the Gilas brain trust is hoping to reintegrate the Utah Jazz star into the national program.

the Gilas training squad is scheduled to arrive from China on tuesday afternoon, winning three of its four games in a pocket tournament against senegal and Iran in heyuan City in Guangdong province.

Clarkson’s first stint with Gilas was during the Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia, back in 2018. his most recent stint was at the World Cup Asian Qualifiers around this time last year. the Philippines is scheduled to host montenegro and mexico in a pair of friendlies a few days before the quadrennial event. Clarkson, barring any complications, is expected to suit up in those games which should very well provide a glimpse of the final roster.

Gilas Pilipinas is bunched with the Dominican republic, Angola and Italy in Group A of the showcase that will also serve as a qualifying tournament for the Paris olympics next year. (Denison rey Dalupang/inquirer. net)

Lost Medicaid health coverage...

PAGE 3 a special enrollment period for you to find another source of coverage. You typically have 60 days before the loss of your medicaid coverage to enroll in a new plan; the packets should arrive ahead of losing any coverage, so that should serve as a warning that a change in your benefits may be coming. to avoid gaps in coverage, plan ahead. most marketplace coverage begins the first day of the following month. here are potential coverage options for you and your family: e nroll in insurance through your job. Losing m edicaid triggers a special sign-up window for you to enroll in your employer’s insurance, if available. enroll in an Affordable Care Act plan. If employer-based coverage is not available or affordable, you and your family may be eligible for a discounted plan on the exchange. If your portion of the monthly premium for the lowestcost family plan exceeds 9.12% of your household income, your family members would qualify for an exchange plan that offers financial assistance.

You also have 60 days from when you report the loss of coverage, not the date when you actually lost it, to enroll in a new plan. that clock starts when you submit a new application via healthcare.gov, according to federal guidelines.

Workplace insurance may be affordable for a father, for example, but not for the rest of the family.

“In that situation, Dad should enroll in the employer- sponsored insurance plan and then they should go to the marketplace for the rest of the family,” said Geoffrey oliver, a navigator who leads Connecting Kids to Coverage, a program of Legal s ervices of e astern missouri.

Your kids may still be eligible for m edicaid even if you no longer qualify: even if parents or guardians no longer qualify for medicaid coverage, their children might. In some places, kids can qualify for the Children’s health Insurance Program, known as ChIP, with an annual household income of up to 400% of the federal poverty level, which equates to an income of $120,000 for a family of four.

What to do before you turn 19 and lose ChIP coverage: some young adults will age out of ChIP coverage at age 19. for them, especially those with chronic health conditions, it’s important to take advantage of the special enrollment period for an Affordable Care Act plan before losing public coverage.

If you turn 19 in the middle of the month — say, september — you should choose an exchange plan in August because most marketplace coverage begins the first day of the following month. this ensures you will not experience a gap in coverage when ChIP coverage expires.

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces indepth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism.