Are the hospitals going to be taken over? France will experience a particularly intense heat wave this weekend, while the central-eastern regions of the country have been on orange alert for almost a week. This Friday, 19 departments are affected and the heat wave should last until the middle of next week at least.
Temperatures will thus reach temperatures that are dangerous for health, with peaks of up to 40°C and, above all, a mercury that struggles to drop during the night, which nevertheless allows the body to regulate its temperature.
regulators strike
At the Samu regulation center in Toulouse, the phone does not stop ringing, in particular to report discomfort or fatigue. “There was a 91-year-old man who was in the middle of a field and who had a heat stroke, we recommend drinking as much as possible and cooling off as much as possible,” says Félix, a regulatory agent.
To process all the requests, a dozen telephone operators attend throughout the day, accompanied by three or four doctors. “It’s about prioritizing calls, that is, directing them to the hotlines or emergency lines,” explains Dr. Pierre Roucolle, deputy manager of Samu 31.
An overload of work that intervenes in an already tense context: since the beginning of July, regulatory agents have been on strike in 71 of the 100 centers that exist in France. They ask for salary and personnel increases: an additional 800 positions would be needed.
Reinforcement of personnel in the hospital
In the hospital, the situation is also difficult. “There are a number of structures that are closed at night or that have regulatory measures, and it is not just the emergency room but the entire hospital,” explains Dr. Agnès Ricard-Hibon, spokesperson for the French medical society and responsible of Samu 95 .
“We know that after three or four days of a heat wave, we are going to have an influx of patients to treating doctors or hospitals,” he adds.
To face it, the teams are reinforced. In addition, in the case of large crowds, the possibility of activating white plans in hospitals is not ruled out, which makes it possible to mobilize caregivers in this heat wave event and to be able to postpone non-urgent scheduled hospitalization appointments to ensure beds.
Agnès Ricard-Hibon thus recalls that it is “important to call your doctor when you have symptoms and if some people fear an emergency, you should call 15 to be well oriented and not find yourself faced with a closed or saturated service”.
The government has also set up a free heatwave number available on 0800 06 66 66 and the elderly or frail are encouraged to register with the municipal register because they can be called regularly for news.
Source: BFM TV
