After Princess Diana’s horrific accident in 1997, it took the ambulance 110 minutes to arrive at the hospital, which was only minutes away. This was not faulty behavior on part of the first responders. They were simply following the protocol of the French emergency medical system dubbed “stay and play,” where a well equipped medical ambulance with a team that usually includes an ER doctor treats the patient before taking them to the hospital.

The French system is in sharp contrast to the American “scoop and run” strategy, where trauma victims are rushed to the hospital while standard techniques are applied by paramedics to stabalize the patient. The US system is based on studies showing that “trauma victim’s best chance for survival is reaching the operating room within 10 minutes.”

As NBC News reports, the French system’s handling of the accident is raising questions on whether Princess Diana would’ve survived had the accident occurred in the US.

I suppose in every healthcare system, there are those who fall through the cracks.

Filed under: Health Policy