Heatwave caused more than 11,000 extra deaths in France

The Telegraph(UK) ^ | 8/29/03

[Dane]

Heatwave caused more than 11,000 extra deaths in France
(Filed: 29/08/2003)

France recorded 11,435 extra deaths when temperatures over 104 degress Farhenheit were recorded during a heatwave in the first two weeks of August.

The latest figure from the health ministry replaces earlier estimates from the country's leading undertaker, who said an additional 10,400 had died during the heatwave.

The government has come under criticism for its handling of the crisis. Hospitals were left stuggling to cope with the number of people who were suffering from dehydration and hyperthermia.

Prof Lucien Abenhaim, the director general for public health, resigned over the situation. He said the heat wave had become an absurdly political issue and the subject of "unworthy and truly childish" claims by the government's opponents. The health minister, Jean-Francois Mattei, has refused to step down.

Many bodies are still unclaimed and have been buried in temporary graves by the authoritie.

[pepsionice]

90% of all the deaths...can be attributed to people who weren't used to severe heat...and drank wine...lots of it...which didn't help dehydration, it actually made it worse. And when they realized they were really bad off, then they called the pitiful medical system run by the state to save them. And the emergency folks, who were cut by budget cuts over the past five years...took anywhere from one to five hours to come. It was just to late to save the old geezers. If relatives had been around...if people had drank water...if they had stayed indoors with fans on...if...if...if...the story would not be that bad. Go to Arizona and find a person who has been there 80 years and ask them if you should drink lots of alcohol during the hot part of the day. They would all have a good laugh.

[Consort]

France has a death surplus.

[Smile-n-Win]

Anyone know the login information for the NYT's website? There is an account hildebeast, but the usual password doesn't work.

[katana]

Been to France dozens of times and my personal take is that the tremendous amount of (more often than not well deserved) s**t they've gone through over the past 200 years has destroyed whatever spiritual strength they may have once had.

I mean, think about it in order: Bloody Revolution, Napoleonic Wars - A**es kicked by British, 1848 Revolution, A**es kicked by Mexicans, A**es kicked by Prussians (Germans) no. 1, A**es kicked by Germans no. 2, A**es kicked by Germans no. 3, A**es kicked by Vienamese, A**es kicked by Algerians, Jerry Lewis becomes national icon, Tour de France becomes annual festival for American with comic book hero name.

That's a lot for anybody to swallow (although the French have a special talent in that area) and has led to Nihilism (belief in NOTHING) becoming their national un-faith. When a "shrug" becomes your national all purpose form of expression, leaving a few thousand of your older relations to drop dead in a heat wave seems almost inevitable.

[CaptainK]

Sorry, just should have printed the letter. Here it is:


France's Heat Wave

To the Editor:

Re "Lack of Air-Conditioning Cited in France's Death Toll" (news article, Aug. 22):

Until this heat wave, France has not needed air-conditioning to avoid a mortality event like this. The bigger question is: why did such an unprecedented event occur? The answer, obvious to most of the scientific community but blatantly ignored by the Bush administration, is likely to lie in human impacts on the climate. This summer's heat wave, felt not just in France but throughout Europe, will surely inflame European anger at American intransigence on global warming and more broadly on Mr. Bush's unilateralist foreign policy.

JOHN PETERSON MYERS
White Hall, Va., Aug. 22, 2003

[Sloth]

That's the thing about eco-freaks, if it's unusually cold (like this past winter) they will correctly point out that it doesn't disprove global warming, since it is a climatic change in average temperatures over decades, and there are still going to be occasional extremes in both directions. But let it get hot, and whoo-boy! It's the global warming doin' it!

[Beck_isright]

"They had "extra" deaths? Did they have a quota? They should just tell those who were scheduled to die in September they can wait awhile if they want."

They couldn't get railroad cars and ship the balance of the quota to Poland like they used to.

[E Rocc]

Was this due to the heat or the corresponding increase in BO?

-Eric

[schaketo]

Burn baby burn!

[INSENSITIVE GUY]

The french are of course too stupid to understand but there is a great invention called the air conditioner!

[knuthom]

The french are of course too stupid to understand but there is a great invention called the air conditioner!

Local newpaper headline: 8/26/03 - Joplin hits 9th day of at least 101.

We had a heat wave that was just as bad here. The heat wave didn't break until today, when we got some much needed rain. But we didn't have large numbers of people dying. Besides air conditioning in every public building (stores, senior centers, libraries, etc.), there are free fans available to the poor. Could it be that we are more civilized than the French?

[Atlas Sneezed]

I don't believe these numbers. It reeks of junk science. The only numbers that really would be compelling is an annual spike (possibly within in a given demographic), that can be explained by spikes wihtin the year during the heatwave.

Otherwise, it is merely the heat picking off those who would have died soon anyway.

[July 4th]

That is completely revolting. Not only that someone would write that, but that a newspaper would find it "fit to print." Yeah, really...if it wasn't for Bush, the temperature in France wouldn't have been above 80 degrees.

[Don Corleone]

I read that many of those old folks were totally abandoned by their own children, left to rot in old-fashioned un-ventilated, un-air-conditioned hell-holes and totally forgotten. But then again, we are talking about the FRENCH.

Let them eat cake!

[RedWhiteBlue]

There was an article posted here yesterday that mentioned that there was no air conditioning because of French health laws. Seems they don't believe in air conditioning and they think that it "spreads germs."

[Jeff Chandler]

Yes, this is all Bush's fault, that ignorant cowboy! As for myself, in the interest of compliance with Kyoto, I will strive to emit only the volume of gas necessary for my comfort and health.

[randog]

Americans are surely to blame for this. If we hadn't gone to war with Iraq we would be sending air conditioners to the frogs instead of our troops in Iraq. Then they'd complain about our cultural insensitivity for not changing the power plugs to fit their wall receptacles.

[mtbopfuyn]

Let them eat cake!

a la mode! A scoop of ice cream on the side and should lower body temp.

[Destro]

Thank god the hell holes we put our aged in have A/C!!!

[Uncle Miltie]

More than died in Iraq this spring.