Pax, while it is plausible that there is an accounting difference between the way France and other countries count "heat related" deaths, I don't think it can explain away other effects that don't seem to show up in other countries
a) overflow of hospitals with people
b) lack of supply of COFFINS and REFRIGERATORS to handle corpses
If the US, for example, weren't probably counting mass deaths that happen during heat waves as "heat related", wouldn't you still expect there to be a surge in dead bodies that have to be buried and a surge of patients in the health care system?
You could explain that away by saying that the US health system can treat emergencies and surges in patients better and that we have a large stockpile of coffins or something, but that still looks bad for France's healthcare system.
On 9/11, New York hospitals were flooded with over 10,000 people, from those who were in the buildings with serious injuries, to those hit by falling debris, or choking on dust, yet it did not break down and fail to absorb those patients. Why? Because New York hospitals had disaster plans. As soon as news broke, they sprang into action and thousands of hospital beds were freed up, extra staff were recalled, etc
You could argue that French health officials simply didn't realize there was a disaster in the making, and didn't activate whatever disaster plans they had, but I still feel it doesn't fully explain the disaster.
My first questions would be:
a) is the French medical system understaffed in July/August? Is this acute, or is it chronically understaffed?
b) what is the capacity of the system to handle emergency vs preventive care. Is it more configured for long waits for preventive or outpatient care?
c) what sort of disaster plans do they have?
d) why did it take so long to realize the problem?
e) why do French nursing homes not have proper environmental controls? I don't care if your average temperature is a comfortable room temperature. Hospitals and old age homes are supposed to be strictly controlled environments: dirt, fungus, bacteria, temperature, lighting, sound, back up power, etc They should be designed to ALWAYS maintain proper environment, regardless of the outside weather or air.
f) for those old people who died alone in apartments, why didn't their relatives check in on them? My mother suffers from heart disease and lives 3000 miles from me, and everytime there is a serious heat wave or scary news item I call her to make sure she is ok, even if I am traveling.
Finally, with regards to accounting. I believe in the US, the CDC records everything (e.g. every death) and they have montly reports that show any surges in the death rate, which is one way they track any new disease outbreaks. Surely, a massive heat wave die off in the US would register with them, even if physicians file the cause of death as "natural"
a) overflow of hospitals with people
b) lack of supply of COFFINS and REFRIGERATORS to handle corpses
If the US, for example, weren't probably counting mass deaths that happen during heat waves as "heat related", wouldn't you still expect there to be a surge in dead bodies that have to be buried and a surge of patients in the health care system?
You could explain that away by saying that the US health system can treat emergencies and surges in patients better and that we have a large stockpile of coffins or something, but that still looks bad for France's healthcare system.
On 9/11, New York hospitals were flooded with over 10,000 people, from those who were in the buildings with serious injuries, to those hit by falling debris, or choking on dust, yet it did not break down and fail to absorb those patients. Why? Because New York hospitals had disaster plans. As soon as news broke, they sprang into action and thousands of hospital beds were freed up, extra staff were recalled, etc
You could argue that French health officials simply didn't realize there was a disaster in the making, and didn't activate whatever disaster plans they had, but I still feel it doesn't fully explain the disaster.
My first questions would be:
a) is the French medical system understaffed in July/August? Is this acute, or is it chronically understaffed?
b) what is the capacity of the system to handle emergency vs preventive care. Is it more configured for long waits for preventive or outpatient care?
c) what sort of disaster plans do they have?
d) why did it take so long to realize the problem?
e) why do French nursing homes not have proper environmental controls? I don't care if your average temperature is a comfortable room temperature. Hospitals and old age homes are supposed to be strictly controlled environments: dirt, fungus, bacteria, temperature, lighting, sound, back up power, etc They should be designed to ALWAYS maintain proper environment, regardless of the outside weather or air.
f) for those old people who died alone in apartments, why didn't their relatives check in on them? My mother suffers from heart disease and lives 3000 miles from me, and everytime there is a serious heat wave or scary news item I call her to make sure she is ok, even if I am traveling.
Finally, with regards to accounting. I believe in the US, the CDC records everything (e.g. every death) and they have montly reports that show any surges in the death rate, which is one way they track any new disease outbreaks. Surely, a massive heat wave die off in the US would register with them, even if physicians file the cause of death as "natural"