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Multiple Fatalities: Euro-Heatwave -- August, 2003 |
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Reporting by the EmergencyNet News
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France Heat Wave Death Toll at 15,000
By JOSEPH COLEMAN, Associated Press - Via Washington Post Tuesday, September 9, 2003; 2:42 PM PARIS - France's leading undertaker estimated the country's death toll from the summer heat wave at 15,000 on Tuesday, far exceeding the official tally and putting further pressure on the government to improve its health care system. The estimate by the General Funeral Services included deaths from the second half of August, after the record-breaking temperatures of the first half of the month had abated, said company spokeswoman Isabelle Dubois-Costes. The bulk of the victims - many of them elderly - died during the height of the heat wave, which brought suffocating temperatures of up to 104 degrees in a country where air conditioning is rare. Others apparently were greatly weakened during the peak temperatures but did not die until days later. The government at the end of August announced a preliminary death toll of 11,435 (see below), but that figure was based only on deaths in the first two weeks of the month. The Health Surveillance Institute, which calculates the official toll for the government, would not comment on the undertaker estimate and said it would release updated figures for August at the end of September. It is not clear why the report has been repeatedly delayed. Reference: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A49209-2003Sep9?language=printer Europe heat may have killed 20,000
Wednesday, August 27, 2003 Posted: 1444 GMT (10:44 PM
HKT) Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/08/27/europe.heat/index.html 13 Aug 2003 About 3,000 Die In French Heat Wave FRANCE: The health ministry estimated on Thursday that about 3,000 people have died in France of heat-related causes since abnormally high temperatures swept across the country about two weeks ago. In a statement, the ministry said: "The number of deaths linked directly or indirectly to the heat...can be estimated at around 3,000 for the whole of France." It was the government's first official death toll estimate. Health Minister Jean-Francois Mattei said the blistering heat wave has caused a "veritable epidemic" of death in France. Morgues and funeral directors have reported skyrocketing demand for their services since the heat wave took hold. General Funeral Services, France's largest undertaker, said it handled some 3,230 deaths from August 4-10, compared to 2,300 on an average week in the year -- a 37 percent jump. Many people died in their apartments. One police officers' union in Paris called on the government to deploy the army to help retrieve bodies. The ministry said its estimate was partly drawn from studying deaths in 23 Paris region hospitals from July 25-August 12 and from information provided by General Funeral Services. (See previous ERRI assessments and news reports - 12 Aug 2003) 12 Aug 2003 Alleged Fifty Deaths In Paris Blamed On Heat Wave FRANCE: A medical expert said at least 50 Parisians have died of heat- related illnesses after a week of record-setting temperatures. If the claim is proven, it would double the number of deaths blamed on the unrelenting heat wave that has baked much of Europe. The French government said Monday it was difficult to determine if the deaths were weather-related, because it is often not clear whether patients admitted to hospitals suffer only from heat or from other ailments. In a situation which may prove reminiscent of a 1995 heat-wave in Chicago, IL that killed 700 people, Patrick Pelloux, the head of France's emergency hospital physicians' association, insisted scores of deaths were going uncounted in the Paris region and accused the government of failing to deal with a silent health crisis. The government acknowledged an increase in the number of elderly being treated at hospitals, but said it was unclear if the heat was to blame. Funeral directors say demands for their services has risen sharply since the heat wave took hold. QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Denial of the facts is one of the most difficult maladies to treat" -- C. L. Staten, ERRI CEO 06 Aug 2003 EUROPE: Europe continues to swelter in a heat-wave on Wednesday that, along with forest fires fanned from the Balkans to the Atlantic, has now killed at least 34 people. More than a week of fires have taken 14 lives in badly hit Portugal, where temperatures inched up toward 104 degrees (F), while neighboring Spain recorded its 13th death from record heat. Germany -- which like most of usually cooler northern Europe has not been spared -- saw three times as much woodland hit by fire as last year. There were five heat-related deaths in one German town alone over the weekend. In Britain the heat claimed its first victims -- two teenage boys who drowned trying to cool off -- and rail passengers faced massive delays as operators slowed down trains for fear that tracks would buckle.
July 13,1995: Caution Urged During Heat Wave Emergency Response &
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