More grim news on French heat wave deaths

[Paschall]

Okay a lot of people were shocked--myself included--when the French Health Minister announced yesterday there'd been 3000 heat-related deaths in France since the beginning of the heat wave. You can be sure that if the government is announcing 3000, the number is at least that. The Health Minister is getting slammed for his poor handling of this crisis, and he wouldn't have issued that high a number if he could have avoided it.

But it looks like we're gonna have to get ready for a bigger shock. Last night, French television reported the 3000 estimate was based only on data from 26 of 33 public hospitals in Paris, and reports (which you probably saw) from France's largest funeral service company. It turns out that this company only handles one quarter of all French burials, so their figures were WAY low. And deaths outside of Paris have been high.

Paramedics and ER specialists last night estimated the deaths in Paris alone at 3000!

The situation is practically medieval in some places. A commmunity outside of Paris was unable to remove the body of one man from his apartment--they had no place to store the cadaver and the obese victim was apparently very difficult to move. So the body was left in the apartment for over a week, forcing residents of the building to find other accommodations. Yesterday, the police requisitioned a refrigerated truck and finally removed the decomposing body.

Health specialists are particularly angered because the dehydration and hypothermia experienced by the elderly often leaves permanent lesions, meaning many of these once-independent seniors will lose their autonomy and now require constant care. So in addition to the deaths, the health toll will be very high indeed.

[JHB]

1. Never fear! The WP and freepers will find humor in there somewhere...

...count on it.

[meegbear]

3. They already have ....

goto www.mediawhoresonline.com

[sham]

14. their hypocrisy is stunning...

They act as if it never happens here.

from a July 30, 2002 article on MSN:
"Heat waves kill more people in the United States than all of the other so-called natural disasters combined. More than 400 Americans die from heat-related illnesses in a typical year."

(skip)

"In one week of July 1995, 739 Chicago residentsÑthe majority of them home aloneÑdied in one of the greatest and least-known American disasters in modern history."

http://slate.msn.com/id/2068612

The fact that anyone, be it the WP or the lowest form of Freeper can celebrate these deaths makes me :puke:. Then again, they don't give a shit about the dead Iraqis. Or the dead Afghanis. And they certainly don't seem to give a shit about the hundreds of dead and (probably) thousands of wounded American soldiers.

[demigoddess]

27. If they really wanted to save lives they would work on solar powered

air conditioning.They would work on low cost renewable power sources (wind power) and they would not run those lights in the office buildings while no one is there. And they would not build buildings with windows that don't open. Americans are collectively a little stupid

[rjbcar27]

2. Bloody hell mate, this is terrible.

I'm stunned at the amount of deaths in a developed country. OK I'm sure France wasn't expecting the amount of heat but you'd think that a country as rich as France would be able to cope a little better than that.

I can't say much though, Britains abysmal transport system suffered much last week.

[Paschall]

4. Bad government

In at least one county, the main health official started working before the heat wave hit to get volunteer back-up ready in the local hospitals. Deaths there have been kept to a minimum.

Chirac's team has handled this just like Aznar handled the Prestige sinking. Now the bodies are washing up on shore and it's NOT a pretty sight!

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

5. Having lived in France for a while...

I can say that some people live in conditions that are nearly medieval and love it. It is a choice they are proud to make.

That does not make the outcome of all this any more palatable.

Note: I loved living there.

[Brian Sweat]

6. A high percentage of french homes do not have air conditioning.

Evidently, it usually doesn't get that hot over there. We have heat related death in the states every year. It usually takes out older people who are already in failing health. France probably just has a lot of old people who have never had to weather such brutal heat. It's really quite sad. Nothing to be made light of.

[DagmarK]

7. Lord.......so now what do we do to help???

Shouldn't the int'l red cross be in there? Or the American Red Cross can go to help too.

What would we SEND to them?

This feels so futile......

[Paschall]

8. The French Red Cross has been volunteering...

...personnel, ambulances, etc. The Civil Defense is working, too. All French medical personnel are on alert. And the cops have set up a half-dozen emergency health stations around Paris.

I think all we can do is pray or dance or chant or send out vibes for cooler weather.

[atldem]

9. The news reports said that

many people were found locked up in an apartment. Why wouldn't they open a window? That isn't cultural is it?

[Paschall]

10. LOL!

I think those reports concerned people living alone. Yes, it is cultural--we French usually lock our doors. Particularly if we're city dwellers. ;-)

But even with the windows open--and not getting any direct sunlight--the temperature in my own apartment never dropped below 90° all last week.

[FlaGranny]

12. When I worked in a hospital, in Florida,

we were always getting elderly people admitted because of heat exhaustion. For some reason, probably fear of breakins, almost every one of them was found in a house with closed windows and doors and no air conditioning. The elderly folks do not seem to be as uncomfortable in the heat as others. I think the heat catches up to them before they realize something is wrong. I know a lot of elderly people who don't use air conditioning because any air conditioning is too cold for them. It's a good idea to have someone check on them frequently in heat spells.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

19. Also, they seem to lose the "thirst" instinct

When my grandmother was still alive, we used to have to remind her to drink water in hot weather, because she wouldn't feel the need.

[theboss]

11. How is this possible?

New York just lost all electricity on a 96 degree day and there haven't been any heat-related deaths yet (as far as I know). Chicago has awful heat waves from time to time and never experiences anything like this.

I know these types of temperatures are unusual in France, but something must be horribly wrong with their emergency services for this to happen.

[NashVegas]

13. Chicago v Paris

First, Chicago has had its share of this problem, just on a smaller scale. In the early '90s there was a heat wave where old folks were dropping like flies. Some of their kids were even trying to sue the city.

As for France, reports are that the normal August temp in Paris is around 75 degrees farenheit. Who's going to have air conditioners there and be prepared for 104?

[SaintLouisBlues]

16. Chicago had 700 people die in a heat wave, 1996 I believe.

St. Louis has around 300 in 1980. Both are cities used to heat with lots of AC. Temps in New York have not been hot enough for long enough to kill.

St. Louis developed a system that has since been adopted by Chicago (after their disaster) and other cities, that includes various warning levels that trigger differing government responses, like distributing fans and AC's to the elderly and opening public cooling centers. Most beneficial is getting everyone to check up on their elderly friends, relatives and especially neighbors. Subsequent heat waves here have not been nearly as deadly as 1980.

So yea, something is horribly wrong with their services. They could not have anticipated this kind of heat wave, and as is typical, these sorts of issues are never addressed until disaster strikes.

[greatauntoftriplets]

22. The Chicago heat wave was 1995,

and I am sure the death toll would have been much higher except for the number of people who DO have air conditioning here.

[theboss]

24. Was '95

And the number of deaths are between 500 and 700 for a ciy of approximately 3 Million. Paris already has 6 times that many for a city of approximately 2 Million.

And, to be honest, I don't think Chicago's services should be the standard cities aspire to reach. The French just look totally unprepared, which is not a good thing in this day and age.

[MiltonLeBerle]

28. NO. AIR. CONDITIONING.

How hard is that to understand?
In Chicago, we have lousy weather every summer, and just about everyone has at least a window ac unit.
In Paris, and most of France, the average August temp is in the mid-70's- almost nobody has air conditioners, and why should they?
Also- most of France is on vacation in August, so nobody is around to check on their elderly relatives, and even Emergency and Medical staffs/services can be thin.

[Paschall]

31. Yes, Paris proper is 2 million

But if we're talking about Greater Paris, it's a five-six county region with over 12 million people, one-fifth of the French population.

[snake1306]

15. And there are those who

still deny human-induced Global Warming...

[buddhamama]

17. truly tragic

it does appear that the Health Minister was overwhelmed by the situation and did act promptly enough.

my heart goes out to you all, especially the elderly :-(

[VelmaD]

18. Does anyone know how we can help?

I know here in Texas there are charitable organizations you can donate to that buy fans for those who need them to help stave off heat-related deaths.

Does anyone know if there are any organizations set up to do that sort of work in France? I'm sure there are plenty of good-hearted people in the US who would be glad to help if we knew how.

Darth Velma

[Paschall]

20. VelmaD, you and other posters are so thoughtful

I think the main needs now are medical personnel and water. We're taking care of both--a bit late, granted, but...

One thing you could do--though it may seem insignificant, it wouldn't be--is send a message of sympathy to Bertrand Delanoë, the Mayor of Paris. There's an on-line form for contacting him on the city's website.

http://www.paris.fr/EN/Contact/default.htm

Or you can write President Chirac here

http://www.elysee.fr/ang/ecrire/mail_.htm

[VelmaD]

26. done...

I sent a message but it feels like such a little thing to do when people are in need.

Do you know if the International Red Cross has become involved or any other similar organization? There has to be more that can be done.

-V-

[BoogieBear]

33. Thanks for posting those URLs

I wrote to both. I'm one 'Merkin who thinks the French people are terrific. I hope things return to normal soon.

[Skittles]

21. Paschall, I hope you know

the truly decent Americans feel very bad about this.

[Paschall]

25. Of course, Skittles

:thumbsup:

[leftyandproud]

23. if they don't fix the problems in new york...

we are next I'm afraid..

I keep getting this feeling in the back of my head that 100+ people are still stuck in elevators in some obscure office building somewhere in NYC..cooking alive

[greyl]

29. i appreciate the update :(

(I didn't realize you were French...)
I'm involved in a message board that originates in Belgium now about the situation and what more can be done from the outside.

[Kellanved]

30. The Washington Post published a terrible Editorial: "can't stand the heat?

Joking about dead people is tasteless.
Nobody mocks Americans for using A/C in the US - most of us know the climate.
We mock Americans demanding one here, where it isn't normally neccessary.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55850-2003Aug13.html

[Paschall]

32. Well, that was *extremely* shallow

I take it the better minds at the Washington Post are all away relaxing at Cape Cod. ;-)