A stretcher bearer in intensive care after being attacked at Challans hospital, in Vendée

The Minister for Health, Frédéric Valletoux, denounced an “odious and cowardly act”.

A stretcher bearer, who is in intensive care, was seriously injured after being beaten on Saturday by a person at Challans hospital, in Vendée, the Sables-d’ prosecutor’s office announced to AFP on Sunday April 7 Olonne. According to the prosecutor, Gwenaëlle Cotto, the victim was hit by “a single person who was accompanied by others” to the hospital. “This person fled and we are doing everything we can to arrest him”she said, adding that an investigation into “violence against medical personnel” had been opened.

Saturday, late morning, “Several people who were accompanying two patients in this department began to get angry because they were frustrated, either by the waiting time or because they were not allowed to enter the service alongside patients”, Marc Noizet initially explained. The president of Samu-Ergences de France (SUdF) also announced that the stretcher bearer “suffered serious injuries which put him in intensive care even today.”

The emergency department temporarily closed

Following this attack, the emergency department of Challans hospital was closed “for several hours”, according to Marc Noizet. The director of the Vendée hospital group declared France Blue to have “Immediately filed a complaint with the gendarmerie”and specified that the victim was “heard Sunday morning at the gendarmerie”.

The Minister for Health, Frédéric Valletoux, denounced on “heinous and cowardly act”. “A hospital is a sanctuary. No violence against healthcare staff can be tolerated”he said, supporting the “emergency stretcher bearer seriously injured”.

Marc Noizet also expressed his “anger” that “caregivers may be subject to violence”. “We cannot be the variable of the anxiety, aggressiveness or violence of patients and those who accompany them.”