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| Britain |
| Top surgeon lists five key blunders that may have cost Diana her life |
| 2007-11-20 |
| Diana, Princess of Wales, might have survived the car crash in which she died had French medical staff not squandered vital time, her inquest was told yesterday. Thomas Treasure, a leading British surgeon, told the inquest that a “window of opportunity” may have existed to get her to hospital half an hour before she was taken there. Professor Treasure, a former president of the European Association for Cardiothoracic Surgery, said that medics had done “very substantial good” in the initial period after the accident but that once the Princess was in the ambulance time began “slipping away”. The professor, who was asked to review records of the treatment given to the Princess for Lord Justice Scott Baker, the coroner, conceded that the combination of her internal injuries was extremely rare and serious but said it was theoretically possible that she might have been saved. |
| Posted by:Delphi |
| #14 I was thinking Star Trek as well. In particular, the hideously deformed, improperly reassembled Vina at the end of "The Menagerie". |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-11-20 23:14 |
| #13 Mr Mules said yesterday: “It’s a good thing that we didn’t actually find the owner of the white Fiat Uno, otherwise he would have become the Princess’s killer.” Mr Mules was senior commander of the elite Paris Criminal Brigade, which originally gathered evidence into the crash in the French capital. In the early hours of August 31, 1997 – soon after Diana’s Mercedes ploughed into a pillar in the Alma tunnel – Mr Mules found compelling evidence that the luxury saloon had collided with a white Fiat Uno seconds before impact. Yet, 10 years on and despite extensive searches all over France, the Uno and its driver are still unaccounted for. “We found that there were approximately 7,000 to 8,000 Fiat Unos and we examined 5,500 of them,” said Mr Mules, who was speaking in Paris where he is now retired. “We checked all their cars and their owners, who had to tell us exactly where they were on the night of the crash, but we never found it.” The inability of the French police to find the Uno driver was highlighted in the British report into Diana’s death, published last December. It was also a subject to which Lord Justice Scott Baker, who is due to preside over the reconvened inquest into Diana’s death as coroner later this year, said he wanted to return. At a preliminary hearing at London’s High Court last month, the coroner said the whereabouts of the Uno driver was one of the key questions which he said would help him to make a decision on whether the Princess was murdered. Two men were named as possibly being the drivers – paparazzi photographer James Andanson, who has since died in mysterious circumstances, and French-Vietnamese security guard Le Van Thanh, who continues to deny any involvement. DIANA KILLED BY FIAT DRIVER SAYS POLICE CHIEF |
| Posted by: KBK 2007-11-20 18:23 |
| #12 I understand that French emergency medicine didn't have the whole concept of the "golden hour" at the time of the accident. Don't know if they've changed their ways since. |
| Posted by: Mike 2007-11-20 16:38 |
| #11 Wrong moniker.... |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2007-11-20 15:55 |
| #10 Bein driven by a drunken Driver, speeding to get away from some photogs who were out to steal her soul, no seat belt worn, running into a column at 100 km/hr or so, palling around with an Egyptian playboy.....Lady Di did die from the result of some veddy veddy bad choices. |
| Posted by: Jack the Rat 2007-11-20 15:55 |
| #9 There is a massive NIH database collecting stats on trauma and EMS recently being used as a model for cardiac events (this includes hospitals north of the border in Canada). Both use a Scoop and Run philosophy similar to the British as opposed to the French Stay and Play. A look at this data verses the French physicians on the scene approach (SMUR/SAMU) - also used in places such as Argentina and Brazil - would suggest the pros and cons of each system. Generalizing from one case such as Diana's is absurd. It may be that a Scoop and Run approach could have saved her had she reached an operating room sooner. It may also be that had EMS workers not attempted to stabilize her at the scene she might have died en route. Both happen all the time. |
| Posted by: Excalibur 2007-11-20 15:12 |
| #8 This is all just beating a dead |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2007-11-20 14:00 |
| #7 She still has my vote for Most Overrated Human Being of All Time. No one's even come close... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2007-11-20 13:46 |
| #6 She's (still) dead, Jim. Give it up already; this is as tiresome as the never-ending Brittany, Paris, Rosie bullfest-o-thon...... |
| Posted by: USN,Ret. 2007-11-20 13:37 |
| #5 I'm not a physician, much less a specialist in emergency work; but I'd guess the French staff were following protocols that are usually appropriate. Most patients would live with on-the-scene treatment, but a few will die. Probably most would live with scoop-and-run too, but a few will die that needed on-the-scene care instead. Monday morning quarterbacks at work here... |
| Posted by: James 2007-11-20 13:18 |
| #4 Yep. It's "bloody frogs!", but more refined. |
| Posted by: mojo 2007-11-20 13:12 |
| #3 This is just some doctor sniping at his mortal enemies. All sound and fury signifying nothing. |
| Posted by: gromky 2007-11-20 11:51 |
| #2 Geez, maybe if she doesn't get in a car driven by a drunken bodyguard, then maybe none of this shit makes a damn bit of difference... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2007-11-20 11:28 |
| #1 Wait ... the WHO said French Healthcare was the best in the world. |
| Posted by: doc 2007-11-20 10:43 |