If targeted power cuts – load shedding – were necessary this winter, it is certain that priority infrastructures, such as hospitals, will be spared. But what about the people living in their homes whose health, even survival, depends on breathing machines powered by electricity?
Enedis spokesman Laurent Méric guest of BFM-TV Monday, December 5, sparked a bronca by saying that people at high life risk – some 4,000 patients hospitalized at home – were not among the priority customers. This exit, at the very least awkward, overshadowed the rest of his remarks.
A few seconds later, however, he assured that care did exist for each patient at high risk of life declared to the regional health agency (ARS):
“If they haven’t responded to text messages, if they haven’t responded to phone calls, if they haven’t responded to emails, then an Enedis agent will come. »
Alas, the first part of his speech earned him the ire of the opposition, that of the President of the Republic, of the Prime Minister and some Minister for Energy Transition.
Practical precautions
In fact, people at high vital risk must approach an ARS to ensure that they are listed, in order to be included in a list, updated and communicated regularly to Enedis. Then the approach is clear and happens on the side of Enedis.
In the event that load shedding is planned in the next few days, Enedis will contact all the people declared in this file three days before, then again the day before to ensure that people are properly informed. Email, SMS, phone call, all means will be used to ensure that everyone is well alerted to the cut that is coming and can adapt accordingly.
Preparing for it means checking the level of the backup batteries if you have any, ensuring the autonomy of the device to last up to two hours without current, or getting closer to doctors or hospital caregivers who take care of the treatment follow-up.
The company managing the French electricity network also intends to reassure that the device provides for the case where patients do not acknowledge receipt of the various messages sent. An Enedis agent will then be sent to the site to inform the person, help them contact relatives or take steps with medical personnel, or consider a transfer to an area that will not be relieved, such as a hospital.
A system deployed all year round
This device is far from being new and specific to the energy crisis. The French electricity network can experience malfunctions all year round, for technical reasons or as a result of climatic hazards. Most of the time, these are small cuts, but in more serious cases, the same protocol applies. The people concerned seem less worried than the actors in the debate, according to an article by the Parisian.
This is precisely what the Minister of Health, François Braun, explained on Tuesday on BFM-TV. “All these people are listed, clearly identified and informed. The census is triple to really be sure to take everyone, it is their own doing, it is the work of the ARS, via the hospital services where these people are followed, to identify them, and I also asked the suppliers of material. »