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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 315
enthusiast
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enthusiast
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 315 |
It seems that the counting of people dead for the heat is more or less made simply by comparing the number of people dead this summer with the number of the previous summer.
Of course, they are not dead exactly "because of the hot wheather" , but mostly they were old people having other health problems, and the heat simply made them heavier.
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757 |
yeahbut®
All the stuff in the media is put in some perspective when you know that 25,000 deaths are calculated to have taken place in the UK last winter from the effects of cold... yes, that's correct, 25,000 preventable deaths in a so-called first world country, with a high-cost social welfare and health system in place. So France's late response to an extraordinary heatwave maybe is not so shabby after all...?
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
mav, I can't believe that figure is accurate. Here's what our Center for Disease Control says: ...in the United States. On average, nearly 700 people die each year due to hypothermia. http://www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/mmwrnews/n010202.htm
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757 |
yeah, I was wrong. It's more.
In total, 27,300 more people than expected died last winter - and of these 25,100 were aged 65 or over...http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2357237.stm
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757 |
And as for those dodgy sounding numbers on hypothermia in the USA (hah!), well the procedures for reporting deaths and their causes are clearly laid down in this cheerful little guide: On line (b) report the disease, injury, or complication, if any, that gave rise
to the immediate cause of death reported on line (a). If this in turn resulted
from a further condition, record that condition on line (c). If this in turn
resulted from a further condition, record that condition on line (d). For as
many conditions as are involved, write the full sequence, one condition per
line, with the most recent condition at the top, and the underlying cause of
death reported on the lowest line used in Part I. If more than four lines are
needed, add additional lines…http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/misc/hb_cod.pdfbtw, don’t you just love that motto and title “Safer-Healthier-People ~ Physicians’ Handbook on Medical Certification of Death” ?! So in theory all the causative breakdowns going back downstream to “government failure to provide adequate preventative healthcare” could be listed. But is it likely to happen in practice, especially if it tends to throw up uncomfortable political truths? I notice that over 65,000 Americans are listed as dying from ‘flu, for example. And before you take a view about that last question, consider the answer to this simple query: how many American service personnel have died in combat since the “end” of the Iraq war? If statistics were neutral numbers, there could only be one answer to this – yet there are two in circulation. I know which I believe, and it ain’t Shrub.
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511 |
I notice that over 65,000 Americans are listed as dying from ‘flu, for example.
And depending how you categorize, these deaths could be attributed to the "effects of cold weather," even if not directly caused by it (as hypothermia).
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400 |
Did you or Jackie read this review of a book about the 1995 Chicago heat wave that left 700 dead?(its a few post up) It's rather long, (of course the book is longer and more detailed) but it covers alot of what makes a heat wave in a modern city dangerous- from poverty, to crime, to government 'effecientcy' -- i haven't kept track of how the various government in europe have acted in response to the heat wave-so i don't know if they were as bad as chicago was. its a sobering read-- (the book sounds almost gruesome) http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2002/08/20/heat/
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Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 36
newbie
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newbie
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 36 |
Now in Europe is cold. Subject is out of date.
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511 |
True, K. We realize autumn is coming, in the northern hemisphere. It's getting cold here in New York, too. But what we are now talking about is political and statistical truth. (nice to see you here again!)
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 1,624
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 1,624 |
... political and statistical truth.
Well done, Betsy. Two oxymorons in one phrase. On yer, girl!
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