texas

North Texans Hospitalized as Temperatures Soar on Sunday

The Texas heat packed a dangerous punch this Memorial Day holiday weekend.

The soaring temperatures have landed people of all ages in emergency rooms across North Texas.

A man is fighting for his life at a local hospital after suffering a heat-related emergency on Sunday afternoon, according MedStar Mobile Healthcare in Tarrant County.

A total of 11 people were transported to area hospitals on Sunday.

Barbara Littierre ended up in an ambulance outside of her assisted living facility in Fort Worth.

The soon-to-be 83-year-old said she had been sitting outside in the shade watching her grandsons swimming for about an hour and a half this afternoon.

She then took a 10 minute walk around her building trying to get inside the locked doors when she began to feel sick.

“I walked back down to the lobby to open the doors so they could come in and then I went and sat down because I was getting kinda loopy,” she said. “I wasn’t feeling anything, I was just hot. It felt like water was just pouring off of me.”

Her daughter watched as Littierre sat down and passed out.

“Her eyes were open and they were rolled back in her head and I was talking to her and she was she just wasn’t there,” said Cindy Hefner.

Medstar Mobile Healthcare has responded to 22 heat related emergency calls between Friday and Sunday, according to operations supervisor John Hamilton.

On Sunday, the agency implemented its extreme weather policy to get to patients who are out in the elements quicker.

“When the real feel is 105 outside, we upgrade our responses to any type of heat-related emergency from non-lights response and sirens to lights and sirens response,” said Hamilton.

A heat stroke can be deadly, according to the CDC.

Victims can feel like they have hot, dry skin. They can also feel nauseous, confused and lose consciousness.

MedStar’s service area includes Forth Worth as well as most Tarrant County cities west of Arlington.

Out of 15 total calls for heat-related illnesses, the vast majority occurred between Noon and 6 p.m. on Sunday.

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