Dozen People Overcome By Heat, Rushed To Hospital During Trump's Florida Rally
At least a dozen people who were overcome by heat during Donald Trump’s rally in Tampa, Florida Thursday, were taken to a local hospital, authorities reported.
Although 17 people needed medical attention, some were treated at the scene, fire department officials told NBC News. One person who was transported to an area hospital had fainted and another suffered a seizure. Details of other conditions were not immediately determined.
A fire truck sprayed water into the air to rain down on rallygoers and keep them cool. At one point, Trump asked the crowd if the spray was coming from “friend or foe,” adding: “If they’re foe, let’s take care of those sons of bitches.”
Many of the packed, mostly maskless supporters had been waiting for hours in the 87-degree heat outside the Raymond James Stadium:
It’s hot hot hot at Trump’s large rally. 87 and 71% humidity. Have noticed EMTs provide assistance for at least two people in the crowd, one carried out on a stretcher. Staffers trying get water bottles to people but quickly running out and having to restock pic.twitter.com/CStmlY8SoN
— Emily Larsen (@emilyelarsen) October 29, 2020
It was the third version of a health scare at a Trump rally in recent weeks.
On Tuesday, 30 people at a rally at Eppley Airfield in Omaha, Nebraska, needed medical attention after they were stranded for hours in the cold waiting for late Trump campaign buses to pick them up following the president’s speech. Seven people were taken to area hospitals with a “variety of medical ailments,” officials told HuffPost.
Authorities in a number of cities have also reported COVID-19 spikes suspected of being linked to Trump rallies, where supporters failed to social distance or wear masks. Five counties ― two in Minnesota, two in Pennsylvania and one in Wisconsin ― experienced a surge in coronavirus cases following Trump campaign rallies, according to an analysis from USA Today.
Much of the nation is already...
