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Princess Diana's Death Offers Lessons for Health Care Debate, 12 Years Later

ABC News ^ | August 31, 2009 | Susan Donaldson James

Posted on by La Lydia

...The horrific accident (that killed Diana) illustrated the difference between the French and U.S. approaches to emergency care -- a relatively small piece of the French medical system, but deemed by some people to be the best in the world and often cited as a model for U.S. health care overhaul.

When rescue workers arrived, Diana was conscious...although she had suffered internal injuries, she did not arrive at the Parisian hospital for 110 minutes -- too late for the surgery that some speculated could have saved her life. Her last hour -- in cardiac arrest and bleeding to death -- was spent in a mobile medical unit parked a few hundred yards from Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, where an emergency team followed French protocol and administered treatment at the scene of the accident and en route...many people surmised that had a U.S. ambulance responded, Diana would have been rushed to the nearest emergency room, where a full set of professionals and diagnostic equipment might have revived her.

Colloquially known as "scoop and run," the U.S. system is grounded in studies that show a trauma victim's best chance for survival is reaching the operating room within 10 minutes. Under the French system, "stay and play," a fully equipped medical ambulance with a doctor stabilizes the patient and then directs him or her to a specialized hospital, even if it is miles away.

"When a patient rolls into the American system, they have a level-one trauma center that runs 24/7, with every specialty and myriad resources..." said Dr. Preeti Jois-Bilowich at the University of Florida's Shands Hospital....

The SAMU team spent an hour treating Diana in the tunnel. Then, following French standards aimed at not further injuring the victim, they drove slowly to the hospital about 4 miles away...



(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...

TOPICS:

Politics/Elections

KEYWORDS:

emergencycare

france

french

socializedmedicine





To: La Lydia

Princess Diana's Death Offers Lessons for Health Care Debate, 12 Years Later And what lesson is that, "Just Let the Papparazzi Take Your Damn Picture."



To: dfwgator

I don’t understand what you’re saying. I snipped out the part about the paparazzi.



To: La Lydia

Is ABC actually pointing out deficiencies in the state run healthcare system in France??? Amazing. Immediate attention in a U.S. trauma ER would probably have save Dianna. Interesting point.



by 4 posted onby downtownconservative (As Obama lies, liberty dies!)

To: dfwgator

You should read what was posted. The French treat at the scene. We take people to trauma centers where they can actually be treated.



by 5 posted onby DJ MacWoW (Make yourselves sheep and the wolves will eat you. Ben Franklin)

To: Pan_Yans Wife

Royalty Ping.



by 6 posted onby Pan_Yan (All gray areas are fabrications.)

To: La Lydia

Interesting article. Basically doesn’t say one system is better than other. What’s not mentioned, however is the cost to the individual Frenchman.



To: La Lydia

...many people surmised that had a U.S. ambulance responded, Diana would have been rushed to the nearest emergency room, where a full set of professionals and diagnostic equipment might have revived her.

so 12 years after her death people assume what might have been better? so they might had revived her? sorry but i guess we will never know. it´s allways easy to say (after someone has died) what might could have been better in a specific case.

so 12 years after her death people assume what might have been better? so they might had revived her? sorry but i guess we will never know. it´s allways easy to say (after someone has died) what might could have been better in a specific case.

To: dfwgator

Just let her rest in peace. What did she ever do to you that you have to make such comments?



by 9 posted onby carton253 (Ask me about Throw Away the Scabbard - a Civil War alternate history.)

To: Portcall24

Basically doesnt say one system is better than other It does say her chance of survival would have been better if she had been taken to a hospital per the american model vs being treated at the scene and en route. One can come to their own conclusion about whether dying is better than surviving I suppose



by 10 posted onby paul51 (11 September 2001 - Never forget)

To: DJ MacWoW

Amazing after over 50 years of EMS, they are still doing it that way. How long ago did stay and play go away in the states? 1980’s. This also happened in Canada a few years ago, some celebrity hit her head skiing and they didn’t life-flight her to a hospital with a CT scanner and a Neurosurgeon.



by 11 posted onby ClayinVA ("Those who don't remember history are doomed to repeat it")

To: La Lydia

Colloquially known as "scoop and run," the U.S. system is grounded in studies that show a trauma victim's best chance for survival is reaching the operating room within 10 minutes. Under the French system, "stay and play," a fully equipped medical ambulance with a doctor stabilizes the patient and then directs him or her to a specialized hospital, even if it is miles away. I could see how either one would be better in some situations. I don't have any information which one would be best overall. Maybe it would be possible to tell at the scene of an accident that the only chance of survival is which type of treatment is needed - rush to the hospital or perform surgery on site, but even then the time to decide would kill some who could have been saved by the "scoop and run". My gut reaction is that our method is best because there is a lot of diagnostic equipment like x-rays, CAT scans, MRIs and various lab tests which you can't just bring along in any vehicle.



by 12 posted onby KarlInOhio ("I can run wild for six months ...after that, I have no expectation of success" - Admiral Obama-moto)

To: DJ MacWoW

As a paramedic in a large US city, I’d ask you not to judge too harshly. Until relatively recently, “stay and play” was the standard of care for all trauma patients...the “Stay and play” meaning airway,oxygen,full immobilization, multiple IVs established and fluid resuscitation initiated, and a full external exam to determine all injuries. It was established (arguably) about 10-15 years ago that IV fluid resuscitation simply was not effective, and even plasma or blood transfusion were of limited effectiveness. In other words, the best way to save the life of someone who was bleeding was not to “replace” the blood, it was to stop the bleeding. For patients with internal injuries, this means surgery. Thus the US standards have evolved into what was cutely termed as “scoop and swoop”, but which more accurately entails airway control, cervical/spinal immobilization, and rapid transport to an accredited trauma center.



by 13 posted onby FreeperinRATcage (I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for every thing I do. - R. A. Heinlein)

To: ClayinVA

Actually, Natasha Richardson’s ski accident was in March 2009.



To: ClayinVA

The star was Liam Neesons wife, Natasha Richardson. She refused medical attention. By the time she told people she didn’t feel well and had a headache, it was too late. The press went for the dramatic not necessarily the truth. A lot of people don’t realize how serious a bump on the head can be.



by 15 posted onby DJ MacWoW (Make yourselves sheep and the wolves will eat you. Ben Franklin)

To: FreeperinRATcage

I think the point was that we did learn and have darn good medical care as opposed to other countries.



by 16 posted onby DJ MacWoW (Make yourselves sheep and the wolves will eat you. Ben Franklin)

To: FreeperinRATcage

It was gone by 1994 in Virginia outside of the inner cities, I remember very strict guidelines when I was going thru EMS training. Most of the time in the Rural areas, the patient is med-flighted directly to the Trauma center. The area I live in really started upgrading EMS back in the late 80’s. Volunteer depts started to give way to full-timer paramedics units.



by 17 posted onby ClayinVA ("Those who don't remember history are doomed to repeat it")

To: Portcall24

IT POINTS OUT A HUGE DIFFERENCE! Diana most likely would have Lived under the U.S. System!

By th end of the 1 Hour and 10 minutes it took the Frenchmen to get her to the ER, she would have been in Surgery for 1 FULL Hour with Full Life Support and a Ful Trauma Tem of Surgeons working on her in the U.S.! But under OBOZO’S CUBAN HEALTH PLAN, NOT unlike the French, all of EXTRA COST of the ER and Surgery was Saved because they wasted enough time that Poor Diana didn’t need it by the time they got her to the Hospital....:-(



To: DJ MacWoW

I believe the fact that Canada did not have the Trauma Center also contributed. If she was in USA she would have been saved.



by 19 posted onby angcat (GO YANKEES! I LOVE MY YANKEES!!!!!!!!!)

To: Portcall24

I had a Frenchman in my house the other day and I asked him about this. He loves the French health care - said it’s part of their taxes and there are no bills he would ever see. He had no complaints but also didn’t know if you had to pay into the system before you got services. He also said that their retirement is way better than social security - they get a percentage of the salary they made while working. I have to admit that our s/s is pitiful - used as a vote buying fund by our corrupt politicians. He thinks our system is tough on the citizens here. I’m not saying this in defense of the proposed health care at all - but what I suspect is we could do a lot better without the political takeover that the rats are proposing. But first we would have to clean out the illegals, tons of pork, foreign giveaways, etc. and the only person I can think of with the balls to do this is Sarah.



by 20 posted onby Aria ( "The US republic will endure until Congress discovers it can bribe the public with the people's $.")

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