The Landes SAMU operators chained calls and yet the waiting list continued to grow on their computer screens. Since mid-June, the number of calls made to the SAMU center in Mont-de-Marsan jumped by 35%knowing that the SAMU of the department centralizes the calls made to 15, but also those made to 112 and 116-117, numbers rather dedicated to city medicine.
1,300 calls per day
“Every summer we notice that the number of calls increases, it is in particular due to the arrival of tourists in our department“, explains Doctor Didier Daraillans, head of SAMU 40. “But this summer, we have no explanation for this very strong increase, it is not especially due to tourism, nor to a compulsory filtering of emergencies by calling 15 first.”
As a result, instead of managing around 800 calls per day, the seven operators of Centre-15 in Mont-de-Marsan answer nearly 1,300 calls daily. An increase observed in other departments, as revealed by a survey carried out in July by the SAMU-Urgences de France union.
It is often for medical advice: knowing what to do after a sunburn, knowing if you can take doliprane for such symptoms
More calls, but not necessarily for major emergencies. “It’s often for medical advice: knowing what to do after a sunburn, knowing if you can take doliprane for such symptoms”explains Didier Daraillans. “Unfortunately, I believe that patients have no other alternative than to call us, for lack of an available city doctor. So we agree to give this advice.”
Lack of regulators at SAMU
“We were forced to increase our team, with the addition of a regulatory doctor as reinforcement during the day”says the head of SAMU 40. “But the period is a bit complicated because some operators are on vacation, we had to call some of them back on their days off to be able to hold on permanently.” But one more operator is still not enough.
“It’s true that since the beginning of the summer, we’ve really been in a tense flow, it doesn’t stop”, notes for his part Louis De Souza, regulatory assistant at the Landes SAMU. Behind his computer, headset on his head, he makes calls. “We’re going fast, it’s true. It’s a bit of a shame because we want to spend time with each person who calls.”
More attacks on the phone
A frustration shared by patients, on the other side of the phone. “When you wait several minutes for someone to pick up and another several minutes, even several hours, for a doctor to call you back, it’s not easy for someone who is worried about their child, their parent or themselves.“, admits the SAMU operator, who also acknowledges having to “take a lot” day-long insults and assaults from annoyed patients.
“Now we allow ourselves to do something that we did not allow ourselves before the calls were recorded at the SAMU: we file a complaint”concludes Dr. Didier Daraillans.