The four children "have all been able to be operated, they are under permanent medical supervision and their condition is stable," announced this Friday the Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne. The day before, a Syrian man who had been granted asylum in Sweden stabbed six people in Annecy, including four children, before being neutralized by police. Before Elisabeth Borne's announcement, two children were still considered "in absolute emergency, in vital emergency", in the words of government spokesman Olivier Véran on France Info. What do these medical terms mean?
First, the term "life-threatening" is used more by law enforcement. The Academy of Medicine retains four terms: absolute urgency "which corresponds to a situation of vital distress"; extreme urgency "which is evolving very quickly towards absolute urgency"; the relative urgency "who can wait" and the potential urgency "that requires careful monitoring".
In reality, absolute urgency and relative urgency are the most common. The first, because it means that the patient's life is potentially in danger and requires prompt care. These can range from surgery to resuscitation. This is the case, for example, of the two children still hospitalized.
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The second, relative urgency, is used for injured people whose lives are not in immediate danger. If the patient is classified as a relative emergency, the question arises of his transport. Depending on the degree of severity of the victim's condition, three options are then opened: the first, which corresponds to a serious condition but effective spontaneous ventilation, requires lying transport, says the Academy"; the second refers to a "preserved consciousness" and "stopped hemorrhages", and also requires lying transport; The last is for "hatched" and "minimal injuries" that then allow seated transport.
