Southeast Indiana hospital diverts ambulances after air conditioning outage

LAWRENCEBURG, Ind. — St. Elizabeth said all parts of St. Elizabeth Dearborn Hospital are cooling after an electrical short took out the air conditioning in part of the building Wednesday evening.

They said a temporary fix was put into place overnight, but as of Thursday morning, the Lawrenceburg location was still diverting ambulances to other nearby hospitals.

It all started around 8 p.m. Wednesday night, according to a St. Elizabeth spokesperson. They said an electrical short led to reports of smoke, but when emergency crews arrived on scene they did not find a fire, according to St. Elizabeth.

St. Elizabeth said 33 patients were impacted in total, though only 15 had to be moved to a different unit.

All procedures scheduled at that location today will go on as planned, according to St. Elizabeth.

The air conditioning outage came as majority of the Tri-State area was under a Heat Advisory on Wednesday and expected to enter an Excessive Heat Warning on Thursday.

The warning is due to Thursday’s temperatures, which are supposed to reach the mid to upper 90s. The heat index will make it feel like 105 to 110 degrees.

All procedures and appointments scheduled at St. Elizabeth’s Lawrenceburg location Thursday will go on as planned, according to the hospital’s spokesperson.

READ MORE:
Relentless US heat wave continues; over 100 million under alerts
‘The heat just builds up’: How to beat the extreme heat without air conditioning
Heat exhaustion vs. heat stroke: Know the signs and how to treat them