Emergency medicine must play a leading role in mitigating against and responding to climate change, according to an article on the Health Europa website.
According to Jonathan Slutzman, M.D., when speaking at CleanMed Europe 2018, the emergency department must become more resilient to climate change and take a leading role in addressing related challenges.
Emergency departments can expect — among other things — increased infections as a result of greater vector-borne disease, higher temperatures leading to better breeding zones and a rise in antibiotic resistance.
Slutzman also said emergency medicine should play a leading role in healthcare’s response to climate change because it touches on every hospital discipline.