WASHINGTON – More than 100 people were treated Wednesday for heat-related illnesses as they waited on the National Mall for Ronald Reagan's (search) funeral procession.
District of Columbia Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department spokesman Alan Etter said some of the victims were treated at a medical tent, while others called 911.
The temperature hit 92 degrees at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (search), which is 10 degrees above normal though far shy of the record 102 degrees set in 1874. A heat advisory was in effect for most of Wednesday.
By late afternoon, hundreds had gathered near the Capitol (search) and along Constitution Avenue, where Reagan's casket was carried in a procession. Many held umbrellas or fans or cooled off in the shade of nearby trees.
U.S. Capitol Police had trucked in about 150,000 of bottles of water for people waiting in line. Thousands of bottles sat in five-foot-high stacks and large fans pumped air onto those waiting in line to pay their respects to the former president.
D.C. health officials said they were mobilizing an emergency corps of doctors and nurses for the rest of the week. First aid and cooling tents were set up around the Capitol. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority stationed air-conditioned buses near Constitution Avenue for people who need to cool off.
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