Adherence of Healthcare Workers to Saudi Management Guidelines of Heat-Related Illnesses during Hajj Pilgrimage.

Yasir Almuzaini,Saber Yezli,Sujoud Ghallab,Nour Abdulmalek,Yara Yassin,Anas A Khan,Abdulaziz Mushi

doi:10.3390/ijerph18031156

Abstract

Heat-related illnesses (HRIs), such as heatstroke (HS) and heat exhaustion (HE), are common complications during Hajj pilgrims. The Saudi Ministry of Health (MoH) developed guidelines on the management of HRIs to ensure the safety of all pilgrims. This study aimed to assess healthcare workers’ (HCWs) adherence to the updated national guidelines regarding pre-hospital and in-hospital management of HRIs. This was a cross-sectional study using a questionnaire based on the updated HRI management interim guidelines for the Hajj season. Overall, compliance with HE guidelines scored 5.5 out of 10 for basic management and 4.7 out of 10 for advanced management. Medical staff showed an average to above average adherence to pre-hospital HS management, including pre-hospital considerations (7.2), recognition of HS (8.1), case assessment (7.7), stabilizing airway, breathing, and circulation (8.7), and cooling (5). The overall compliance to in-hospital guidelines for HS management were all above average, except for special conditions (4.3). In conclusion, this survey may facilitate the evaluation of the adherence to Saudi HRIs guidelines by comparing annual levels of compliance. These survey results may serve as a tool for the Saudi MoH to develop further recommendations and actions.

Highlights

In 2009, the World Health Organization (WHO) recognized climate change as one of the top five environmental causes of death worldwide [1]
heat-related illnesses (HRIs) data were collected from all eight hospitals in the holy sites from a total of
Training and educational workshops for all medical staff should be encouraged regularly. This is the first time an audit survey has been conducted on the adherence to interim HRIs guidelines

Summary

Introduction

In 2009, the World Health Organization (WHO) recognized climate change as one of the top five environmental causes of death worldwide [1]. Extreme weather patterns have resulted in various illnesses and mortalities around the world. In particular, is a natural hazard that can affect human health and is significantly linked to the occurrence of heat-related illnesses (HRIs) [2,3]. A wide range of health conditions may result from HRIs, from mild symptoms to life-threatening manifestations such as heatstroke (HS), heat exhaustion (HE), and heat cramps [4,5]. Patients with HRIs can present with wide clinical spectrums such as fatigue, vomiting, fainting, hyperthermia, neurological disturbance, circulatory collapse, and multiorgan failure [8]. The diagnosis of HRIs is usually based on the history of exposure to a hot environment, clinical symptoms, and signs of dehydration [9]

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