Queues of several hundred meters, some service stations closed… If the government defends itself from any “shortage”, currently one station in ten “encounters difficulties” in France, and up to 30% for Hauts-de-France, government spokesman Olivier Véran said the day before. And questions that arise, especially for emergency services.
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Ambulances that make several stations, in search of fuel, it is daily life at the moment, according to Agnès Ricard Hibon, spokesperson for the emergency medicine company, and head of a service in the Ile-de-France region. “The problem is especially on longer journeys. Our usual stations found themselves out of supply. We had to look for other stations and it was difficult to find any. We found some on highways, actually“, she explains, before acknowledging that “It hasn’t had any impact for the moment, but it’s for safety“.
Some Samu, who usually refuel at TotalEnergies, more affected by the shortage, have therefore taken fuel cards elsewhere. Stations will only be reserved for them if the situation becomes critical. The French society of emergency medicine claims it in any case. However, this measure is “not necessary”, judge Pierre Carli, the boss of Samu de Paris, because a safety net has been activated since Wednesday, October 5: “It is possible to have H24 fuel from the central ambulance service of the Public Assistance on a reserve of petrol and diesel for the vehicles. There is not strictly speaking a supply problem, but rather an adaptation to be made, taking into account the specific problem“, he tempers.
In Hauts-de-France, the situation is much more tense than in Ile-de-France. John Pinte, president of the national union of liberal nurses, thus indicated this Thursday on franceinfo that “nurses could not go to work. (…) We will not be able to provide all the care” in the region, he assured.
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“It is experienced as a real shortage by nurses who go to stock up even in Belgium when they are not too far from the border“, in the north of France, he added. According to John Pintprivate nurses could select their patients if the situation were to continue: “The most distant will not be able to have the passage of the nurse at certain times. These are things that could happen. Of course, we avoid this situation, but when the tank is empty, unfortunately, if your patient is 10 kilometers away, there is no other solution.“, regretted the president of the national union of liberal nurses.
In Pas-Calais, the prefects give priority to health professions with pumps reserved for ambulances, firefighters, doctors, nurses: “C‘is a good thing. The problem is that we do it once there is already a shortage. We do not anticipate enough“, he lamented. Olivier Gantois, president of Ufip Energies and Mobilities, spokesperson for oil companies in France assured this Thursday on franceinfo that the situation was going “arrange“this Thursday, October 6, due to the additional imports put in place to deal with the consequences of the ongoing strikes in French refineries.
Fuels: “There is no generalized shortage”, assures Olivier Gantois, spokesperson for the oil industry in France. In the North and East “it was the strikes that led to these delivery restrictions”. pic.twitter.com/EkNE2gR7aP
— franceinfo (@franceinfo) October 6, 2022
John Pinte doesn’t believe it: “We know that by the time the situation returns to normal, it always takes several days. We will be faced with this difficulty for several more days. If there are not much more drastic measures taken, we will not be able to provide all the care“, he estimated.