That incident with Comas was spotted by Eurosport commentator John Watson as the "most ridiculous thing I've ever seen at any time in my life". Senna's car returned to the pitlane where officials impounded it. However, an unidentified person insisted that the black-box data carried on the car should be removed. Doctors rushed Senna into intensive care; a brain scan confirmed the diagnosis made on the track. At pm, Senna's heart stopped beating, doctors restarted his heart, and he was placed on a life-support machine.
Senna's brother Leonardo arranged for a priest to perform the last rites which occurred at pm. Senna's heart stopped beating at pm, and it was decided not to restart it. Senna was pronounced dead at pm with the official time of death at pm. It was later revealed that, as medical staff examined Senna, a furled Austrian flag was found in his car—a flag that he had intended to raise in honour of Ratzenberger after the race.
Sometime after the race, Ian Harrison was called by an Italian lawyer informing Harrison of Senna's death and that it was being treated as a "road traffic accident". Early in the morning of 2 May, Harrison was called by another lawyer who took him to a mortuary. Harrison decided not to see Senna's body upon being asked. Dale Earnhardt , who won that race, dedicated his win to Senna. Also, CNN announced the news of Senna's death.
In Brazil, the country's television networks spent the rest of the day interrupting their normal programming schedules to announce Senna's death and replay his last interview, given to the media on the day before the accident. The Italian and Brazilian press were critical of the FIA for the rule changes that were enacted for The layout of the circuit was changed after the two fatal accidents at the event.
They attempted to simulate a mechanical failure which had not proven conclusive. The FIA responded quickly and introduced changes to the regulations as follows: [21].
Other improvements included more improved crash barriers, redesigned tracks and tyre barriers, higher crash safety standards, higher sills on the driver cockpit and a limit on 3-litre engines are among the measures that were subsequently introduced. In February , a page report was handed over to prosecutors which suggested that a steering column had been the cause of Senna's crash.
The FIA and Italian authorities still maintain that Senna was not killed instantly, but rather died in hospital, where he had been rushed by helicopter after an emergency tracheotomy and IV administration were performed on track.
There is an ongoing debate as to why Senna was not declared dead at the track. Under Italian law when a person dies at a sporting event, that death must be investigated, causing the sporting event to be cancelled. From the ethical viewpoint, the procedure used for Ayrton's body was wrong. It involved dysthanasia , which means that a person has been kept alive improperly after biological death has taken place because of brain injuries so serious that the patient would never have been able to remain alive without mechanical means of support.
There would have been no prospect of normal life and relationships. Whether or not Ayrton was removed from the car while his heart was beating or whether his supply of blood had halted or was still flowing, is irrelevant to the determination of when he died. The autopsy showed that the crash caused multiple fractures at the base of the cranium , crushing the forehead and rupturing the temporal artery with haemorrhage in the respiratory passages.
It is possible to resuscitate a dead person immediately after the heart stops through cardio-respiratory processes.
The procedure is known as putting the patient on the machine. From the medical-legal viewpoint, in Ayrton's case, there is a subtle point: resuscitation measures were implemented. From the ethical point of view this might well be condemned because the measures were not intended to be of strictly medical benefit to the patient but rather because they suited the commercial interest of the organisation. Resuscitation did in fact take place, with the tracheotomy performed, while the activity of the heart was restored with the assistance of cardio-respiratory devices.
The attitude in question was certainly controversial. Any physician would know there was no possibility whatsoever of successfully restoring life in the condition in which Senna had been found. The people who conducted the autopsy stated that, on the evidence of his injuries, Senna was dead.
They could not say that. He had injuries which led to his death, but at that point the heart may still have been functioning. Medical personnel attending an injured person, and who perceive that the heart is still beating, have only two courses of action: One is to ensure that the patient's respiratory passages remain free, which means that he can breathe.
They had to carry out an emergency tracheotomy. With oxygen, and the heart beating, there is another concern, which is loss of blood. These are the steps to be followed in any case involving serious injury, whether on the street or on a racetrack.
The rescue team can think of nothing else at that moment except to assist the patient, particularly by immobilising the cervical area. Then the injured person must be taken immediately to the intensive care unit of the nearest hospital. According to the first clinical bulletin read by Dr.
Maria Teresa Fiandri at pm Ayrton Senna had brain damage with haemorrhaged shock and deep coma. However, the medical staff did not note any chest or abdomen wound. The haemorrhage was caused by the rupture of the temporal artery. The neurosurgeon who examined Ayrton Senna at the hospital mentioned that the circumstances did not call for surgery because the wound was generalised in the cranium. At pm Dr. At that stage he was still connected to the equipment that maintained his heartbeat. The release by the Italian authorities of the results of Ayrton Senna's autopsy, revealing that the driver had died instantaneously during the race at Imola, ignited still more controversy.
Now there were questions about the reactions of the race director and the medical authorities. Although spokespersons for the hospital had stated that Senna was still breathing on arrival in Bologna , the autopsy on Ratzenberger [who died the day before] indicated that his death had been instantaneous. Under Italian law, a death within the confines of the circuit would have required the cancellation of the entire race meeting.
That, in turn, could have prevented Senna's death. The relevant Italian legislation stipulates that when a death takes place during a sporting event, it should be immediately halted and the area sealed off for examination. In the case of Ratzenberger, this would have meant the cancellation of both Saturday's qualifying session and the San Marino Grand Prix on Sunday.
Medical experts are unable to state whether or not Ayrton Senna died instantaneously. Nevertheless, they were well aware that his chances of survival were slight. Had he remained alive, the brain damage would have left him severely handicapped. Accidents such as this are almost always fatal, with survivors suffering irreversible brain damage. This is a result of the effects on the brain of sudden deceleration, which causes structural damage to the brain tissues.
Estimates of the forces involved in Ayrton's accident suggest a rate of deceleration equivalent to a 30 metre vertical drop, landing head-first. The official time of Senna's death was therefore given as It was reported that most likely part of the suspension, with the wheel still attached, speared through Senna's visor entering his skull. So, I took my medical scooter and headed to Tamburello.
Senna was still breathing autonomously but had gone into a coma: he had lost a lot of blood from the wound above his right eye, as well as having a fracture at the base of his neck due to the suspension that had detached from his Williams. We all immediately understood the gravity of the situation and decided to take the helicopter to Maggiore Hospital.
In the helicopter, he was still breathing with the mechanical lung ventilator. His heart also slowed down but we were able to get him started again.
A second after the photograph was taken, the Brazilian's car plunged off the circuit and he suffered fatal head injuries when his car collided with the concrete wall lining the track. There is also evidence that Senna may have pressed too hard on cold tyres after several laps of running at a much-reduced speed behind the safety car, while debris from the earlier collision was removed from the straight in front of the pits. Formula One tyres depend on heat built up by vigorous use to retain their optimum operating pressures and generate maximum grip.
If allowed to cool, they can lose grip dramatically and in this situation, they created a situation beyond even Senna's control. Neither Williams nor Head will attend the first day of the trial - they are not obliged to - as they wish to avoid turning the case into a media circus. Monday — Sunday, November 8th — 14th. See a sample. Latest news from the world of sport, along with the best in opinion from our outstanding team of sports writers.
Subscribe Now.
0コメント