SINGAPORE – The island-state’s blazing heat is inescapable, but symptoms of heat-related illnesses can be similar to other diseases, and may often be misdiagnosed at the emergency room.
For example, a patient with fever, low blood pressure or confusion may initially be suspected of having an infection or sepsis, or blood poisoning, rather than a heat-related illness.
This could result in an underreporting of heat illnesses and give an inaccurate picture of the prevalence of heat-related illnesses in a population, and how it drives other diseases.
As Singapore prepares for hotter weather, a senior consultant from Singapore General Hospital’s Department of Emergency Medicine is working with 10 public hospitals’ emergency departments to better understand whether rising temperatures have resulted in more cases of serious heat illnesses here.
“The purpose is to establish a more systematic and consistent way of recognising, characterising and reporting heat-related illness across Singapore,” said SGH senior consultant Marcus Ong, who is also director of the Pre-hospital and Emergency Research Centre at the Duke-NUS Medical School.
Under the HEAT-MAP study, which ends in 2028, medical staff at the emergency rooms first identify patients with suspected heat-related illness. Symptoms include fainting, cramps, seizures and headaches.
They then collect relevant clinical data such as the patient’s core temperature, and record information about whether they were working strenuously in hot environments.
Clinical data can also include underlying medical conditions that make the patient more vulnerable to heat such as heart disease.
Medical staff may also order lab tests to understand the severity of organ injury associated with heat stress.
“By routinely asking about heat exposure and collecting information on symptoms and circumstances, we can better identify cases that might otherwise be overlooked,” said Ong.
Data from the study will serve as a starting point for future projections of Singapore’s risk of heat threats amid global warming.
The Ministry of Health (MOH) told The Straits Times that the number of heat-related illness cases at the emergency departments of all public hospitals here increased from 280 in 2024 to 398 in 2025. The years 2024 and 2025 were among the top 10 warmest years in Singapore.
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