Skopje, 18 July 2023 (MIA) - The extreme heat across North Macedonia affects citizens' health. Emergency medical services recorded a surge in interventions on Monday and Tuesday, compared to the previous weekend. By Tuesday afternoon, there were 36 interventions.

According to the emergency medical services, heat-related cases included people who were injured in traffic incidents, people who had fainted, or had elevated blood pressure, and medical teams also intervened to help during a fire that broke out in Madzari.

"Yesterday, we recorded an increased number of interventions, compared to the previous weekend. There were seven traffic accidents and five collapses. Today, until mid-afternoon, we had 36 interventions. Some of the patients had fainted, we had a fire in Madzari, many traffic accidents, people with elevated blood pressure," Head of the Emergency Medical Services Milica Bubalo told MIA.

The recommendations to citizens for this type of weather include wearing light clothes, drinking lots of water, and avoiding outdoor activities. 

Given the increased number of traffic accidents on Monday and Tuesday, Bubalo urges drivers to respect traffic rules and regulations. The hot weather affects driving vehicles, bicycles and motorcycles, she said. 

Prior to the weekend when the heat wave began, there were on average 250 to 350 calls made to the emergency services. ssh/nn/