A large tent erected outside, members of the civil protection… the reception is surprising to say the least at the entrance to the emergency room of the Pellegrin university hospital center (CHU), in Bordeaux. After 5 p.m. and until 8 a.m., patients arriving find the door closed. Never seen. Instead, this outpost with volunteers in navy blue and orange uniforms, responsible for sorting out the most serious emergencies. “Yesterday, someone arrived, he had an oedema. We immediately let him in.” says one of them posted with four other first aid graduates, Thursday, May 19, to make it clear that vital or acute emergencies continue to be taken care of. ” When in doubt, the on-call nurse comes to see what’s going on “, he also reassures.
These volunteers are now there every evening, until 10 p.m., to assess the condition of a patient who presents himself when the population has been called upon to go through a call to the SAMU before coming. After this time, citizens are invited to contact 15 themselves from an intercom.
A very degraded operation in the evening and at night which the large Aquitaine center had to resolve since May 18. And which is already worrying other health establishments, many of whom see the tension rising in their emergency services, even before the summer period. In question, explains Professor Philippe Revel, head of the emergency service and SAMU Bordeaux, the shortage of medical and paramedical personnel. “We are 40% short of staffhe summarizes. During the Covid crisis, everyone came together, but now everyone is giving up and departures have accelerated. »
Since May, it has been necessary to go down to only two emergency doctors at night, instead of three. “The working conditions are no longer acceptable”continues Professor Revel, hence this new configuration which should make it possible to reduce entries to a minimum, and to ensure the security of support. “Medical error is what particularly worries us, picks up the emergency doctor. If in the first days, problems appear, it will be very complicated. » Luckily, the first night of closing was pretty quiet. The emergencies near the Saint-André hospital or the Bordeaux North polyclinic remain open at all times.
“Completely strangled”
The situation in the region is nevertheless critical, according to emergency physician Chloé Carruesco: “The stagnation is general, the situation of tension becomes dangerous for the patients. » The emergencies of Sarlat (Dordogne), Oloron-Sainte-Marie (Pyrénées-Atlantiques), Sainte-Foy-la-Grande (Gironde), Lesparre-Médoc (Gironde), or even Jonzac (Charente-Maritime), have been closing intermittently since Several weeks.
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