A senior French health official resigned Monday after the health minister acknowledged that as many as 5,000 people might have died in a blistering heat wave.

Apparently healthcare people went on vacation, leaving the hospitals understaffed. I guess they didn't get "Drink Water!" out over the airwaves.
And here I was making fun of a radio news interviewer who asked a woman what she did when running in the park when it is hot (the answer was - "If I get dizzy I walk."). I guess there are some people who just don't know.

Do they not have air conditioning in France?