Was there a pilot on the plane during the crisis? Lack of masks, tests, frustrations expressed by liberal doctors or private health establishments ... For months, questions and controversies have not failed on the management of the health crisis. Now there is a head-on shock, with the air of settling accounts, against the backdrop of a very old quarrel between the firefighters and the Ministry of Health, and especially the Samu. The soldiers of the fire denounce in particular the absence of a single command and the mismanagement by Health.
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After these criticisms, the committee of inquiry of the National Assembly on the pandemic of Covid-19 heard on Monday Martin Hirsch, director general of the Public Assistance-Hospitals of Paris, Christophe Gautier, director general of the university hospitals of Strasbourg, and François Braun, president of Samu Urgences de France and head of the emergency department of the Metz-Thionville regional hospital center. Reacting to the attacks, gathered in a very critical report from the National Federation of Firefighters of France revealed on Sunday, François Braun denounced this weekend a "pamphlet" compiling "false information" which testifies to "the great frustration"firefighters. It is true that the report is vitriol. He criticized the fact that the Ministry of Health was given "the role of crisis commander, when nothing in its organization and culture predisposed him to effectively perform this role". He denounced the exclusion of the Ministry of the Interior and the prefects until the beginning of confinement and then "a two-headed organization between the ministries of Health and the Interior", when it would have required "a single command".
He criticizes the fact that the Ministry of Health has been given "the role of crisis commander, when nothing in its organization and culture predisposed him to effectively perform this role"Beyond this question of "leadership", the firefighters attack the "accounting and financial management" of regional health agencies and denounce supposed failures in terms of emergency numbers (firefighters have long called for a single number, the Samu being more reluctant), transfers of patients ("real outburst") or follow-up of nursing homes.
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In this context, the hearings of Martin Hirsch, Christophe Gautier and, above all, François Braun were eagerly awaited. The first two, heard for more than two hours, were keen to respond to criticism of transfers of patients holding the "blanket". Martin Hirsch stressed that "medical evacuations (had) saved lives". He added that he had heard that they were called "glitter" and replied: "Glitter does not save lives." Christophe Gautier said he was "a bit upset about this recent controversy" and specified that these transfers had been "essential" so that the 1,856 patients followed in Strasbourg, including 492 in intensive care, could be treated according to their condition. In Alsace, faced with the saturation of resuscitation services, patients have even been transferred to Switzerland or Germany. Responding to criticism of the telephone numbers, a collaborator of Martin Hirsch considered that the management of the calls had been "correct" and pointed out the absence of queues in the emergency room, as observed in Italy. In the background, Martin Hirsch and Christophe Gautier also recognized the problems posed by the lack of masks during the crisis.
However, we will have to wait to listen to François Braun's reactions to firefighter criticism. The hearing of the president of Samu Urgences de France, already very delayed, encountered a major obstacle. President of the commission of inquiry and the commission of social affairs, LREM MP Brigitte Bourguignon learned in full session that she had just been appointed Minister Delegate for Autonomy. The commission will therefore have to find a new boss.
