Hitze: 40 Grad im Pflegeheim? Warum Hitzeschutz in der Pflege eine Seltenheit ist
Nur wenige Pflegeheime sind auf extreme Hitze vorbereitet. Die, die es sind, zahlen für die Maßnahmen vor allem selbst. Die Politik sucht noch nach konkreten Antworten.
Dinslaken, June 2021 - For 85-year-old Heidemarie Pavsek, 27 degrees Celsius outside is pleasant. She recalls even hotter days, with temperatures reaching up to 40 degrees in June. Pavsek resides at the Alfred-Delp-House, a Caritas-run care facility. "I actually cope well with the heat," she explains. On hot days, Pavsek leaves her room and sits in the air-conditioned community areas of the facility.
"At least I can still move around myself," she says. However, many residents find it hard to endure the heat. The Alfred-Delp-House, with its 80 residents, is an exception - it is comparatively well-prepared for heat waves. According to a survey by the German Hospital Association (DKG), only 14.5 percent of new buildings in the social sector have air conditioning installed so far.
This is despite the fact that heat is typically more dangerous for elderly people than for younger individuals. While data for care facilities specifically is currently unavailable, estimates from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) indicate that approximately 12,500 people died across Germany from heat-related causes this year alone.
In North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), the number was around 2,300. In June, two care homes in Dormagen and Krefeld were briefly evacuated due to the heat.
Written by urgent.news from Handelsblatt's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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