Heatwave: after minor work, a calmer summer at the Ehpad Voironnais – Le Dauphiné Libéré

Article published in Le Dauphiné Libéré Voiron – Monday 19 August 2024 (p. 12)

As it does every summer, Ehpad La Tourmaline in Voiron has activated its ‘heatwave plan’ to help senior citizens cope with the heat. Work has been carried out to improve comfort and new fans have been installed. Other projects are in the pipeline.

Article written by Hélène Delarroqua

Despite the heat outside, the air inside the Voiron home for the dependent elderly (Ehpad) is breathable. Fans, and sometimes misters, provide a little coolness for the senior citizens sitting next to them. Since the end of June, the ‘heatwave plan’ has been activated at La Tourmaline, a protocol that requires teams to be extra vigilant with residents. ‘The clinical signs of dehydration in the elderly(*) are masked; they don’t ask for something to drink,’ explains Chrystelle Fontaine, the establishment’s director.

Additional drinks rounds

Fortunately, this year’s heatwave came late and some minor work was carried out at the beginning of the summer to improve the comfort of the sixty residents and fifty or so members of staff. Two new air-conditioning units were added to the existing ones in the communal areas on the upper floors. In addition, ten bedrooms – those most exposed to the sun – are now equipped with ceiling-mounted air destratifiers, which stir the air to even out the room temperature. The work was financed and monitored by the town of Voiron, which owns the Ehpad, with the help of the Conseil départemental de l’Isère? ‘We used to have to hire portable air conditioners, which were noisy, but now it’s really pleasant,’ says the manager.

It has also provided its staff with new, thinner T-shirts – ‘The carers also suffer a lot from the heat during treatment’ – and added extra rounds of drinks.

‘We are instructed to offer a glass of water whenever we interact with a resident (changing, washing, etc.),’ explains Chrystelle Fontaine. Five of them, ‘who didn’t want to drink because they were very weak’, are now hydrated subcutaneously (by infusion) and, to convince the others, they are now offered a wider variety of refreshments than the same old syrup, with ‘great success’, says the manager. With a new dietician due in September, ‘we’re going to be thinking about adapting our meals for next year’, says the manager.

À therme, la vieille verrière sera remplacée

There are also plans, in 2025, to replace the glass roof, which dates back to the 1990s, with a system that allows less heat through.
Although the summer has so far gone off without a hitch at the Voiron Ehpad, the coordinating doctor, Lucyna Rys, has no intention of lowering her guard: ‘After the summer,’ says the geriatrician, ‘the most vulnerable people don’t do so well and we’re seeing an increase in mortality.

Chrystelle Fontaine adds: ‘The phenomenon of dehydration develops over several days, and the risk does not disappear as soon as the weather gets cooler’.

Ten air destratifiers have been installed in the rooms most exposed to the sun at the Voiron nursing home, with an on/off switch placed next to the bed. Before,’ says Danielle Dussert, a dapper octogenarian, ’I had a portable personal fan. Now I’m fine, I just lie under it to read and breathe.’

Photo Le DL/H.D.

On Voiron’s social networks

On Facebook and Linkedin, the town of Voiron announced the installation of Exhale ceiling fans, which allow air to circulate throughout the room.