“No one takes care of me.” This phrase resonates in the emergency room of the Montauban hospital. Twenty noon yesterday, more or less patiently waiting for their care. “The peaks are around 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and in the evening from 5.30 p.m.,” said a hospital official. They know it, some will wait almost four hours. According to the same source, “we prioritize: expectations are graduated according to the urgency. Some need a radio or a blood test which causes waiting and a domino effect”.
Shortage of doctors and epidemic of gastroenteritis
A patient flow that tends to grow during this year-end period. “We have a lot of breathing problems in the elderly. We have also entered the epidemic of gastroenteritis and that of the flu is coming,” said Pierre Mardegan, head of the emergency department of the CHU de Montauban.
For the moment, no reinforcement of staff for emergencies but in the corridors of this service, we are annoyed by the lack of general practitioners in the city which will avoid hours of waiting in the emergency. What about the holiday season? According to Dr Mardegan, nothing very significant: “Here we have no opening of hand with the oyster knife, simply an alcoholism at the level of a classic Saturday evening. We are far from the Festival of 400 shots “.
An average of 130 patients per day
Faced with this influx, five or six nurses, three or four nursing assistants and two doctors present 24 hours a day must receive an average of 130 patients per day, some of whom are under stress. Nurses on the front line: “We try to give a maximum of explanation and a time slot,” confides Lisa, between two patients, “imagine that after six months on strike we finally had a second nurse at the It seems nothing but for us it’s huge. The three four of the people are understanding, the remaining quarter is much more complicated. ” Her colleague Hélène nods: “We have families who don’t understand why we keep their children waiting”.
Come for “nonsense”
For doctors, emergencies are formative. David Laloum is internal to the CHU of Montauban and will spend six months in this service: “The pace is very fast, it’s very active. Here we receive all types of cases. If I want to become a field doctor I must be able to treat wounds but also possible strokes. ” The future doctor recognizes blows of stuff and patients not necessarily easy to manage. “I had to keep a baby of seven months who had a fever of 40 ° C at 5.30 am. The parents were tired and wanted to go home. In the end, the little girl had a kidney infection. It is not easy, especially when you accumulate patients who come for nonsense like a little girl who just had a sore finger… But here we have an obligation of means so we played her a radio… which made other patients wait even more long time”.
As one official reminds us: “We don’t come to the emergency room for pleasure but the emergency crisis is symptomatic of a suffering health system”.
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