# EMS response to Paris Attacks



## Dakine (Sep 4, 2012)

http://www.jems.com/articles/2015/11/response-plan-credited-with-saving-lives-in-paris-attacks.html

Response Plan Credited with Saving Lives in Paris Attacks
Only four of the over 300 people rushed to hospitals died
Tue, Nov 24, 2015

MARIA CHENG, AP Medical Writer

BRUSSELS (AP) - When extremists began their bloody attack on Paris on Nov. 13, it triggered the activation of an emergency response plan to treat the injured - and while 302 people were rushed to hospitals, only four died, according to a report published Tuesday in the journal, Lancet.

About one hour after the first suicide bomber blew himself up outside the Stade de France, health officials decided to put their "White Plan" into action, a disaster response plan developed two decades ago that had never been used in such circumstances.

"We did not know how and when this nightmare would end," doctors wrote in their report. More than 40 medical teams and the fire department were divided between the attack sites and 15 more were kept on standby.

The coordinated attacks across the city claimed 130 victims, but most died instantly and never made it to the hospital.

Most of the victims had gunshot wounds and health workers were so desperate for tourniquets to stop the bleeding that the mobile response teams returned to the hospitals without their belts. To avoid overwhelming emergency rooms in the area closest to the two restaurant shootings, health workers conducted triage at the hospital entrance.

"Never before had such a number of victims been reached and so many wounded been operated on," they said. "A new threshold had been crossed."

The doctors said that all necessary operations on the injured were conducted as quickly as possible and that they were never short of supplies. They were helped by the fact that all but one of the patients was less than 40 years old.

Dr. Philippe Juvin, head of the emergency department at Georges Pompidou hospital, said that the youth and good health of most of the patients helped them to survive.

In a strange twist, many doctors and firefighters had taken part in an exercise simulating the organization of emergency responders in an imagined multiple shooting event in Paris on the morning of Nov. 13; when the events began to unfold in reality that evening, some of them thought it was another simulation.

When doctors had time to sift through what had happened that night, they discovered that all of the "upper limb fractures" were so devastating they had to to be treated externally because the broken bones had pierced the skin or there was extensive bone loss.

The doctors warned that if the attacks had happened during the day, the response might have been worse since hospitals would have already been busy. "Unfortunately, the current situation requires us to be prepared to face even more difficult situations in the future," they said.

___

Samuel Petrequin in Paris contributed to this report.


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## Balls004 (Feb 28, 2015)

I don't know if this applies to the French docs, it probably does, but trauma medicine knowledge has grown exponentially in the past decade or so, all the way from the first person or first responder all the way to the emergency room doc. 

Many have first hand experience in treating penetrating or blast trauma in a war zone and that knowledge makes it more likely that a victim will survive. Plus many people who have not actually treated a trauma patient have access to the latest protocols to help a patient survive that "golden hour".

One local doctor in my area credited his deployment to Afghanistan for being able to save the life of a young man. It wasn't something that he'd never seen before, and so his training kicked in. There are a fair amount of folks who have deployed in a war zone and are now working essentially the same job back home. That's good for us, plus the others who have taken it upon themselves to acquire some advanced first aid training give us a little bit of an edge in beating the Reaper.


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## Dakine (Sep 4, 2012)

Balls004 said:


> I don't know if this applies to the French docs, it probably does, but trauma medicine knowledge has grown exponentially in the past decade or so, all the way from the first person or first responder all the way to the emergency room doc.
> 
> Many have first hand experience in treating penetrating or blast trauma in a war zone and that knowledge makes it more likely that a victim will survive. Plus many people who have not actually treated a trauma patient have access to the latest protocols to help a patient survive that "golden hour".
> 
> One local doctor in my area credited his deployment to Afghanistan for being able to save the life of a young man. It wasn't something that he'd never seen before, and so his training kicked in. There are a fair amount of folks who have deployed in a war zone and are now working essentially the same job back home. That's good for us, plus the others who have taken it upon themselves to acquire some advanced first aid training give us a little bit of an edge in beating the Reaper.


the Afghan war is why TQ are back in favor, it was combat experience saving lives that changed protocols, until recently it was "direct presure.. raise and elevate" LOL! no... use what works!!!! it's not difficult.


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## Oomingmak (Feb 26, 2015)

Interesting topic OP. It makes sense that we all now have more doctors that have experience to deal with these sorts of injuries................. how many years have the ME wars been going on now? Heck, it has been going on for so long that small children have grown up to become a new generation of terrorists and medical professionals since it all started back with Desert Storm.

When it comes to severe injuries, I often wonder how well many people would perform when forced into survival situation due to a TEOTWAWKI situation. How many have actually gone out and taken enough first-aid courses of the right kind to be able to deal with serious injuries/trauma that is life threatening?

In that sort of a situation you are not just looking at stabilizing and then off to a major hospital with an EMS team. How many have actually obtained the medical supplies that would be needed to handle both the initial injury and the long term care until the person is functional again?

And what about their being exposed to serious trauma, so they actually have a real life grasp of what those sort of situations are like? Will they be able to respond quickly and not be so shocked by the enormity of it, that they are unable to function? Lots of people go their whole lives and never see life threatening injuries, the blood, gore and screaming. 

This is where those of us that have been in the military and combat, or worked in one of the fields as emergency responders, have a leg up on those who have lead a relatively sheltered life.


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## tsrwivey (Dec 31, 2010)

Oomingmak said:


> And what about their being exposed to serious trauma, so they actually have a real life grasp of what those sort of situations are like? Will they be able to respond quickly and not be so shocked by the enormity of it, that they are unable to function? Lots of people go their whole lives and never see life threatening injuries, the blood, gore and screaming.
> 
> This is where those of us that have been in the military and combat, or worked in one of the fields as emergency responders, have a leg up on those who have lead a relatively sheltered life.


If we've been lucky, this is true. I know a paramedic with 10yrs experience in NYC that's says he nearly couldn't function when his own baby was coding. I take care of very sick children everyday but yet when my own are sick, I second guess things to death. In a SHTF situation, the victim could very well be your child or spouse. Things are a bit different when you're emotionally attached to the patient. We need to expect that & be prepared to deal with it.


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## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

I had seen an article about how the medical response in Paris made a big difference in the saving of lives.

I have taken CPR training several times in my career. The thing that always hits me is that sooooooo many people could NEVER respond in a real medical emergency. I just searched for a percentage online, but did not come up with one. I think I heard that only 40% of trained could actually perform CPR. 

Training is essential. The simulation that day had to have made a huge difference as well.


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## crabapple (Jan 1, 2012)

This is the first time in 55 years I wish POTUS was French.
Maybe ISIS would have been bombed months ago!


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