Heat bigger health issue than eye injuries on eclipse day

After hand-wringing over possible eclipse-related eye injuries, hot weather during the event may have been more of an issue, local health-care providers said.

“We anticipated some (eye injuries),” Regional Eyecare Center office manager Mary McBride said Tuesday. “But [the eclipse] didn’t really generate any.”

Bambi Fowler, administrative employee at Leet EyeCare’s North Kingshighway location, said her office had received “so far, just a handful” of complaints.

Monday’s temperatures in Cape Girardeau hovered in the high 80s, and many eclipse viewers braved direct sunlight to get a clear view of the event.

SoutheastHEALTH spokeswoman Sally Owen said her hospital’s emergency department saw six heat-related cases during or immediately after the eclipse, as well as one minor injury.

“Some have already been released,” she said in an email. “[We] expect all to be treated and released.”

Saint Francis Medical Center spokeswoman Sarah Shanahan said its emergency department saw no patients with heat- or eclipse-related issues.

McBride cited the widespread availability of eclipse glasses as a likely reason for the scarcity of injuries.

“People were cautious,” she said. “In this case, no news is good news.”

tgraef@semissourian.com

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