Two homeless people died on Thursday morning due to hypothermia in the San Juan de Dios Hospital.
Mario Sibaja, interim director of the medical center, said that the first patient was admitted at 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday, with cardiac arrest, in critical condition.
He was picked up on public roads in Escazú. He required advanced life support measures, including a respirator, to maintain blood pressure, infusion of hot sera, to increase the temperature, but the evolution [of the patient] depends not only on keeping the body warm, but also on the injuries suffered prior to admission to the hospital,”
reported the doctor. Despite the efforts, he died at 12:40 p.m.
The second patient was received at 7:50 a.m. this Thursday and he died minutes before 9:00 a.m., as his condition was just as critical as the previous one.
In recent weeks we have had a lot of cold wind, which makes the thermal sensation much lower and if one is exposed to the weather, without shelter, body temperature drops quickly. If he has also taken liquor or has used drugs, causing an alteration in consciousness, the initial symptoms such as cold or chills may not be perceived and hypothermia is then accentuated,”
explained the doctor.