Australia: Weather puts hospitals on a high alert

A "disaster preparedness" policy for heatwaves in case of an influx of distressed and dehydrated patients has been activated in Western Australia's hospitals, according to The West Australian.

Health Department acting executive director of public health Andy Robertson said: "So the department has activated elements of its heatwave response plan to make sure hospitals are prepared... It's about getting people thinking about all sorts of things because on hot days there may be pressure on power supplies and we don't want to suddenly find out that a generator hasn't been tested for a while."