The emergency department of the hospital in Braine-l’Alleud reached near saturation on Saturday midday due to an influx of patients, the department’s head physician told the Belga news agency.
Under normal circumstances, the department typically receives an average of 105 patients per day.
By midday Saturday, the number of admissions had already surpassed 70. Between 10:00 and 17:00, the department faced a wave of patients suffering from heat exhaustion, fainting spells, and dehydration, explained emergency physician Frédéric Cavallotto.
Despite the unusual surge attributed to ongoing high temperatures, the emergency department in Braine-l’Alleud remained operational and did not close its doors.
Reports suggest that the hospital in Nivelles also experienced similar overcrowding. To manage the situation, the emergency hotline 112 was asked to redirect as many patients elsewhere as possible to alleviate pressure on the department, Cavallotto added.
The 112 emergency service even called in additional operators to support overwhelmed hospitals in the region.
Additionally, to ease the strain on healthcare workers, some patients were transferred to other hospitals, including facilities in Brussels.
