135 cases of cardiac arrest reported over 2 days in Taiwan amid cold wave

寒流襲台，2天135例心臟驟停

Health experts recommend high-risk groups take precautions when waking up


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Local governments reported 135 cases of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) over the weekend amid the first cold wave of the winter; however, it's not yet clear how many were caused by the weather.

Over the weekend, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) issued multiple cold surge advisories across the country. In response, health authorities are advising the public to take measures to stay warm and carefully acclimate themselves to the cold temperatures when they first wake up.

On Saturday and Sunday (Dec. 17 and 18), a total of 135 medical OHCA ambulance cases were reported. Hospitals are still investigating which cases were caused by the cold weather.

Kaohsiung City received the most OHCA reports with 18, including 13 males and five females ranging in age from 17 to 96 years of age, reported Mirror Media. In northern Taiwan, there were 16 OHCA cases, of which 13 were in New Taipei City, with one recovering after receiving emergency medical treatment.

Keelung City reported one case, a woman in her 90s, while Taoyuan registered nine, with doctors being able to resuscitate one of the patients. Hsinchu City reported four cases, of which one was sent to the hospital and three were not.

In Hsinchu County, there were eight OHCA cases, including five males and three females, while Miaoli County reported eight cases, four males and four females. In Changhua County, there were six OHCA cases, while Nantou County reported three.

Yunlin County reported four OHCA cases, while Chiayi County and Chiayi City received reports of eight and four cases, respectively. Tainan City recorded 12 cases, while Pingtung county reported 11.

The Hualien County Fire Department reported six OHCA cases, but has yet to confirm whether the incidents were caused by cold weather.

Lin Wei-wen (林謂文), director of the Department of Cardiology and Cardiac Catheterization at Taiwan Adventist Hospital Cardiologists advised the public that large diurnal temperature differences affect the elderly, people suffering from the "three highs" (high blood pressure, high blood sugar, and high cholesterol), and those suffering cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease should take proper precautions, reported ETtoday. Lin said that the sudden exposure to cold temperatures could cause these groups to experience poor blood pressure control, increased blood pressure, and rapid heartbeat, resulting in cardiovascular and cerebrovascular emergencies such as myocardial infarction and stroke.

Lin advised people in these high-risk groups to do warm-up exercises in bed to warm up their bodies before they get up and come into contact with the cold air. In addition, high-risk groups may experience postural hypotension when waking up.

Lin said changes in posture immediately after waking up may cause dizziness and accidents such as falls. He advised people at high risk to drink plenty of warm water when getting up, or even stay in bed for five to 10 minutes before standing up to enable the body to adapt to the changes in temperature and posture to avoid straining their body.

The fire department also advised the public to ensure their home is properly ventilated and to exercise caution when using unvented space heaters to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning and fires.