Le Figaro Bordeaux
Even the director of the care offer of the Regional Health Agency (ARS) of New Aquitaine, Samuel Pratmarty, recognizes it: the SAMU 33 regulation center reached "
a historic peak of activities this Sunday 18 and this Monday, December 19
.
Since the beginning of the month, the medical regulator assistants (ARM) who officiate at Pellegrin Hospital have recorded up to 3,400 calls per day, an increase of 16% in their activity compared to the same period in 2021. A crisis without previous.
“
We are putting ourselves in danger and we are putting the lives of the population in danger because we do not have time to respond quickly enough
”, confides to
Figaro
an ARM, who preferred to remain anonymous.
To alert to the situation, the Sud Santé Sociaux union of the Bordeaux University Hospital unveiled this Thursday in a press release the SAMU 33 call records. received a response.
In a particularly long time: 15 minutes.
“
You have to understand that in the context of a cardiac arrest, for example, 1 minute lost means a 10% less chance of survival.
I'll let you do the math
, "says Gilbert Mouden, staff representative.
A time that can reach up to 1h15 when it is then a question of speaking with the doctor.
Thinking of a mistake, some patients hang up before dialing 15 again, again clogging up the call center and thus losing their place in the queue.
Vacancies at SAMU 33
Transformed in September 2021 into a healthcare access service (SAS), SAMU 33 should have increased its efficiency.
"
This reorganization was to allow a pick-up in 30 seconds and simplified access to city medicine
", describes a member of the service.
Except that general practitioners, liberal nurses and physiotherapists, also overloaded, are unable to absorb the influx of patients.
Aware of the need, the management of the Bordeaux University Hospital then created 17 additional ARM positions, bringing their number to 72.
A good will that is not enough, because the breeding ground is sorely lacking.
The management mentions 4 vacant positions, to which must be added 30% absenteeism according to the unions and the ten departures in September “
faced with the difficulty of the exercise
” according to the ARS.
To maintain a minimum service, staff are therefore called back for overtime on their days off.
According to internal emails consulted by
Le Figaro
, 14 requests were issued in December.
And impossible to rely on other vital forces in New Aquitaine: in Blaye (Gironde) and Sainte-Foy (Landes) typically, emergencies are still trying to fill the guards of December 24 and 25.
We're gonna start bullshitting if we haven't already.
If there's a drama, I'm the one on the line.
I couldn't clear myself psychologically by saying to myself: “It's the system that killed him”.
An emergency doctor from the Bordeaux SAMU
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“We do war medicine” alert emergency physicians
Exhausted and under pressure, the caregivers we consulted are worried about a “
serious
” endangerment of their patients.
“
We do war medicine
,” breathes Gilbert Mouden, in the service for 25 years.
The ARMs must “
take on responsibilities and decisions
” that the regulating doctors do not have the time to make.
"
We are afraid of making a mistake, afraid that someone dies in the call queue
", cracks a member of the service.
He says he goes home in the evening wondering if a trial will fall on his head.
A concern so shared by emergency physicians, that the Bordeaux University Hospital organized a legal point this week to remind the ARMs that they are not responsible except "
in the event of detachable fault from the service
".
A clarification that was not enough to reassure.
One of them implodes: “
We're going to start bullshitting if it's not already done.
If there's a drama, legal liability or not, I'm the one on the line.
I couldn't clear myself psychologically by saying to myself: “It's the system that killed him”.
»
A system that the ARS and the management of the CHU Pellegrin are trying to consolidate.
In addition to the reinforcement of medical externs at SAMU 33, in the region the number of open places in the sector's education courses has been increasing for several years.
An ARM training center is also due to open on January 1 in the medical establishment.
