Dead heat in his air-conditioned room

Jean-Rodrigue Bouleau died in a heat wave in July 2018 while living at CSSLT in Weiden.

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“It may come as a surprise that someone would die of heat stroke in establishing a health network,” said Gilles Sinton, who was quoted as saying in a statement released a year later.

The 92-year-old woman had some cognitive impairment and did not want to leave her room even though it was very hot. On several occasions the staff volunteered to renovate her in the air-conditioned dining room, to no avail.

“She doesn’t want to leave the room,” explains her daughter, Regine Rodriguez. She had a fan, but she did not like having air or air conditioning on her. For the elderly, it is not comfortable, it gives a stiff neck. “

Deadly heat wave

The Crown says the Wheaton CSSLT was built in 1969. In addition to the dining room, common rooms such as the entertainment room or family room are air-conditioned, as are administrative offices and nurses’ rooms.

On July 5, a severe heat wave hit Estri. M^Me Paulie does not like dinner and stays in his room. At night, she starts to have a fever. On July 7, his condition worsened, he became confused and his temperature rose to 41.3 to C.

The woman, who suffered from lung disease and heart failure, was susceptible to heat and died late in the evening.

As the crown pointed out, Mr.^Me Beaulieu refused to go into the fridge.

“A CSSLT is a living environment where we recommend respecting the preferences of the residents.^Me Puliou suffered from a major cognitive deficit; Can she really choose what works best for her? He wondered.

Not for all rooms

CIUSSS de l’Estrie declined to comment on the situation. However, communications consultant Felix Moss notes that “action has been taken following this tragic event that rocked our establishment.” “

During a heat wave, relatives are involved in reporting the evolution of health and the dangers to a person who refuses to care if a person has cognitive problems.

Families can also purchase an air conditioning unit “as long as they value the electrical capacity of the building’s distribution network. ”

“To date, the request to install an air conditioning unit has not been denied. […] Due to the power capacity, ”Mr. Says Mass. He says an air conditioning unit cannot be installed in every room of the CHSLD. The electrical network is loaded with high load.

The number of air conditioning units that CIUSSS can install cannot be stated because it depends on many factors such as the power of the devices affecting the power consumption.