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CNN Live At Daybreak
European Heatwave
Aired August 12, 2003 - 06:52 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: We want to talk heat now. One French medical official says the European heatwave may be the cause of dozens of deaths in France alone.
Paula Hancocks joining us live from Paris -- how hot is it there today?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, we're expecting highs of about 103 degrees Fahrenheit today. The average for Paris in this month of August is usually about 75 degrees Fahrenheit, just to give you some idea of how much hotter it is, and, of course, how ill equipped some of the doctors are saying that their health infrastructure is to deal with these sort of temperatures.
Overnight, in fact, we had 30 degrees Centigrade, which is tremendous, tremendously hot, and we broke some records, the nightmare records, as well.
Looking at what this doctor said, it was Patrick Palou (ph). He's head of the Emergency Doctors Association here in Paris. And he told me that he estimates at least 100 people have died in Paris over the last week because of heat related illnesses. He says a lot of them are elderly people. A lot of them are people who are sick already. But doctors really are criticizing the French government for not having done more to try and deal with the problems in the health infrastructure. A lot of these ministers have gone on holiday. Of course, August is the month that most of these ministers do go on holiday. Most Parisians, in fact, leave the city and head for the coast.
He says that on Sunday alone, 16 people died in Paris, and they really aren't equipped to deal with these sort of heats. They're trying an action plan which they announced on Monday, saying they're going to try and free up as many beds as they can in these hospitals. Quite a few hospital workers are canceling their own holidays or coming back from holidays to try and help out. And you also have all of the non-urgent cases not being dealt with, the non-urgent procedures being canceled, some of those treatments that have been scheduled, just so that they can try and channel all their efforts into trying to deal with the heat related illnesses -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, you try to stay cool yourself.
Paula Hancocks live from Paris this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired August 12, 2003 - 06:52 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: We want to talk heat now. One French medical official says the European heatwave may be the cause of dozens of deaths in France alone.
Paula Hancocks joining us live from Paris -- how hot is it there today?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, we're expecting highs of about 103 degrees Fahrenheit today. The average for Paris in this month of August is usually about 75 degrees Fahrenheit, just to give you some idea of how much hotter it is, and, of course, how ill equipped some of the doctors are saying that their health infrastructure is to deal with these sort of temperatures.
Overnight, in fact, we had 30 degrees Centigrade, which is tremendous, tremendously hot, and we broke some records, the nightmare records, as well.
Looking at what this doctor said, it was Patrick Palou (ph). He's head of the Emergency Doctors Association here in Paris. And he told me that he estimates at least 100 people have died in Paris over the last week because of heat related illnesses. He says a lot of them are elderly people. A lot of them are people who are sick already. But doctors really are criticizing the French government for not having done more to try and deal with the problems in the health infrastructure. A lot of these ministers have gone on holiday. Of course, August is the month that most of these ministers do go on holiday. Most Parisians, in fact, leave the city and head for the coast.
He says that on Sunday alone, 16 people died in Paris, and they really aren't equipped to deal with these sort of heats. They're trying an action plan which they announced on Monday, saying they're going to try and free up as many beds as they can in these hospitals. Quite a few hospital workers are canceling their own holidays or coming back from holidays to try and help out. And you also have all of the non-urgent cases not being dealt with, the non-urgent procedures being canceled, some of those treatments that have been scheduled, just so that they can try and channel all their efforts into trying to deal with the heat related illnesses -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, you try to stay cool yourself.
Paula Hancocks live from Paris this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
