ABC News: Princess Diana Might Have Survived Had the Accident Occurred in the U.S.

This is from an ABC News report:

When rescue workers arrived, Diana was conscious, uttering, "My God" and "Leave me alone" to the swarming paparazzi. 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.

Diana's 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.

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.

Comments (8)

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  1. Devon Herrick says:

    It’s hard to imagine a horrific auto accident occurring in the capitol city of a developed country, where a world famous occupant that’s badly injured doesn’t make it to the hospital for an hour and forty-five minutes.

    The lesson readers should take away from this story is not to have an auto accident (or a heart attack) on a city street in Paris – much less anywhere else in France!

    (In SiCKO didn’t Michael Moore tell us French health care is so wonderful that French doctors will come right to your house?)

  2. Larry C. says:

    Amazing: Lady Di might be alive if she were in the US health care system!

  3. Dan S says:

    Natasha Richardson would probably be alive if she had sustained her acute subdural in the US instead of Canada. She was transported by ground ambulance to a hospital with CT scanning capability far too late to intervene unless a doctor on site had possessed the balls to drill a burr hole.

  4. Ken says:

    And this is the system Michael Moore wants us to copy?

  5. Nathan says:

    I’m sorry, but some of you people are so stupid. To suggest someone who was in a car accident would of lived if they were in the USA, based on a news article is a joke.

    It seems to be the typical american ethos “we have the best of everything, we’re the best at everything”

  6. Johnnie says:

    Salisbury VAMC (NC). I have had good and ousntatding care at times. However, I have also had a recent ER experience that was so bad, I wouldn’t believe the story if I hadn’t been the one subjected to it. I don’t think there was a VA Patient Right that wasn’t violated by the pathetic performance of the MD. The only reason I got anything pain was the nurse’s intercession, but even he folded like a lawn chair when I filed my complaint about the experience. I had re-herniated a recent discectomy, went the 45 miles to the VA ER, spent 5 hours there, got a diagnosis of a blood clot, and nobody would acknowledge or speak to me about an MRI. The doctor (and supported by the ER COS) stated that my symptoms exceeded my condition regarding my pain complaint. That was before exam. After the fact, he still supported the 30 years of clinical judgement. I’d like to know how I was supposed to be acting with a nerve root trapped in the foramen over a ligament by a piece of fragmented disc!I’d now like to use some profanity, but I think most of you can figure it out. There is/was NO EXCUSE for what happened to me that day in the ER. Likewise, there is no excuse for fee basis denying the MRI I had done locally after being refused treatment at the VA. You can figure out their response too. Everybody is covering everybody’s butt.This particular group of people have demonstrated NO professional integrity as far as I’m concerned. But it isn’t everybody. And maybe if I wasn’t female with psych. diagnoses the male Indian physician might have treated me better. We’ll never know.

  7. Falyn says:

    We have car iunrsance to protect us in case the car is damaged, but we don’t expect the policy to pay for oil changes.Why is the human body any different?If you *really* want to improve the cost of health care, you’d push to have malpractice iunrsance companies base their premiums on the doctors’ records just like car iunrsance. Currently, there are two variables for determining malpractice iunrsance: area of expertise and zip code.This means that a heart surgeon in his first year pays the same as the heart surgeon who lives next door and has 15 years of experience. This means that the doctor who still has his license after N malpractice suits pays the same as the doctor who has zero.Oh, and when you go to a doctor’s office and offer cash instead of going the iunrsance route, you can regularly get 30-50% discounts in service. I’ve done it along with thousands of others.

  8. Kila says:

    Super Artikel, der Blog ist an sich auch sehr gut giechresben. Werde in Zukunft wieder mal vorbeikommen.