Pyrenees: Submerged, the medical office of Piau-Engaly reinforced by medical students


These two phenomena combined have led to a clear increase in visits to altitude medical surgeries, perceived by the gendarmes of the Oloron High Mountain Peloton and confirmed by the rescuers from the Bearn resorts: “In Gourette, we never saw that, “lamented a rescuer after a weekend marked by around thirty injuries. Same observation on the side of the Hautes-Pyrénées, where the medical office of the Piau-Engaly station quickly found itself understaffed.

On January 26, the prefect of the Hautes-Pyrénées, Rodrigue Furcy, signed an order to authorize postgraduate medical students to come and support the only doctor in the resort. The decree specifies: “It is a question of authorizing the exercise of the students of 3rd cycle of the medical studies as assistant of a doctor in the event of exceptional influx of population. The number of general practitioners in practice on the territory of the resort is insufficient to meet the health needs of the population. »

Lack of health care

Worse, the situation risked leading to an “insufficiency, or even a lack of healthcare provision. The only general practitioner is facing a massive influx of people”, caused by the February holidays. It was the president of the Council of the Order of Physicians of the Hautes-Pyrénées, Jean-François Millet, who alerted the Regional Health Agency to this dangerous situation, requiring it to find “imperatively a solution for the care of station patients.

Asked, Jean-François Millet confirms “that a single doctor in Piau for the season was not possible. To support him, we had two possible levers: recruit an assistant, a student authorized to make replacements; recruit an assistant, i.e. a student who has completed his course but has not yet validated his thesis. To recruit an assistant, as in the present case, it is necessary to go through a prefectural decision. »

Frequent situation in the mountains

The phenomenon is not new, deplores the president of the Council of the Order of Physicians. “In stations, this situation often arises. In recent years, we have seen the same cases in Saint-Lary, Cauterets… But most often, it is in summer that we observe this trend. I have been President of the Council of the Order since 2017 and these situations arise once every year or two. I ensure that the assistants meet the codes of ethics and public health. »

The doctor who previously held the position at Piau-Engaly informs that he has experienced these difficulties over time. “I practiced there for nine years and I was always alone. The help from the assistants is crucial, because with the large crowds, you can’t get out of it. This is enough to put the positive messages of ski resorts in terms of safety in their areas into perspective.

On the same subject

Pyrenees: serial accidents on the ski slopes

Mountain rescue experienced an intense period of activity on Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 January in the Pyrenean mountains with around twenty injured, many of them in resorts. Blame it on icy slopes and misleading weather



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