On the occasion of the Olympic Games, the Paris city hall and prefecture have put in place traffic restrictions which hinder the work of caregivers or relatives of sick people, who are forced to find temporary fixes to receive treatment.
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Since her mother was hospitalized at the end of June, Sophie Defrance has been distraught. At 65, this employee in a Parisian company knows how to handle paperwork. But with the traffic conditions put in place since July 18 in preparation for the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games on Friday July 26, she no longer knows how to manage her mother, 88 years old, who has lost his sense of direction and is no longer eating. “I’m panicking”she confesses. “I don’t know who to call anymore, or how to handle all this.” Like Sophie Defrance, home helps, nurses, doctors, ambulance drivers and relatives of patients have confided their dismay to franceinfo.
Until then, Martine Bodecher-Magnanou was independent and lived alone in an apartment in the very chic 6th arrondissement of Paris. Since she returned home on July 11, three home helpers have taken turns helping her go to the toilet and cook for her. These new restrictive habits must be added to the new traffic restrictions in the capital, particularly along the Seine, with a double security perimeter: a large red zone and a more restricted gray zone. Access is thus conditional on the possession of a pass in the form of a QR code (except for rare exceptions, particularly for emergency vehicles of the fire brigade or the Samu).
No luck, the apartment of Martine Bodecher-Magnanou is in a gray zone, which means that a pass is required to access their home. “For a few days now, the home helpers have been sent 10 to 15 metres from her home”regrets his daughter. “They even refused to let a nurse in.”
Martine Bodecher-Magnanou’s case is not isolated. Several home help companies have reported the difficulties their agents have in accessing red and grey zones. “It all depends on which police officer you come across”confide several caregivers contacted by franceinfo. The company that employs the care assistants of Sophie Defrance’s mother, Age et Perspectives, notes that“about ten customers” are faced with the same problem as Martine Bodecher-Magnanou.
Vanessa Wilson, head of the 13th arrondissement agency, also notes that even if “The vast majority of staff have no problems” to circulate in these areas, “Many are faced with refusals” to pass through the red zone by police officers. And this, while no QR code is required in these perimeters for people traveling on foot or by bike, the Paris police prefecture reminds franceinfo.
Faced with the refusal of the police, the home care workers have tried to justify themselves, with a certificate from their employer and professional card in support, This is not always enough to get through the roadblocks. As a result, Vanessa Wilson “made requests for passes, but there are delays”In total, between the extended journeys and the negotiations with the police, she estimates that her agency lost at least 150 hours of work between Friday 19 and Monday 22 July.
Despite much anticipation, the Ouihelp company has also experienced setbacks. This home help company has been on deck since January and has even appointed an “Olympic project manager”, although the company has no direct link with the Games. For six months, Eugénie Lallement and her teams worked on the schedules of the home helps and guided them in their requests for passes. In total, 90 of them obtained the precious sesame, for 290 beneficiaries living in red and grey zones. However, “Three home care workers were still refused access to a red zone because they did not have a pass, despite the fact that one was not required”regrets Eugénie Lallement.
Clara also took the lead. Normally, this disabled Parisian knows how to reconcile vacations with the six hours of weekly care she needs. With the Games, she and her parents made a radical decision: to leave Paris and stop Clara’s care for a month.My disability makes my hand go lollipop, which requires physiotherapy at least once a week”explains the young woman. The practitioner gave her some exercises to practice during this month of break. “I will inevitably lose some motor skills, but they should come back when I start the sessions again at the start of the school year.”she hopes.
Not all patients can do without their care. For those suffering from cancer or who have to undergo dialysis, a treatment which consists of replacing the role of the kidneys by filtering the patient’s blood for about four hours, it is impossible to take a break. “We have very serious concerns about the opening ceremony and during the road races”grumbles Bruno Lamothe, from the Renaloo association, which represents kidney patients. The latter are transported by ambulance to dialysis centers, thus having to cross roads prohibited to unauthorized vehicles.
For example, the Bercy dialysis center is in a white zone, but it is surrounded by red zones requiring a pass for vehicles. Result: patients arrive late and have to give up part of their dialysis, points out Bruno Lamothe. “When a patient comes out of four hours of dialysis, all he wants to do is go home.”underlines Nordine Bounoura, who manages an ambulance company in the 14th, 15th and 16th arrondissements. Except that this return home can sometimes take hours because of the traffic, already congested in Paris, and amplified by these traffic restrictions.
To avoid making these delays worse, ambulance drivers and SOS doctors are giving priority to patients located on the same bank as them. “Those who need to cross the Seine cannot find an ambulance”notes Ahmed Taqua, representative of the Association of Emergency Sanitary Transport (Atsu 75).
If I have to pick up someone in the 5th arrondissement to go to the other side of the Seine, it takes at least 1 hour 40 minutes. We have to refuse a lot of transport, because we can’t cope with the hours of delay accumulated.
Ahmed Taqua, representative of Atsu 75to franceinfo
However, ambulance drivers and SOS doctors believe that these delays could be reduced. This is why they have been asking for several weeks to be able to use the “Olympic lanes”, these sections of road reserved for accredited vehicles, firefighters and emergency services, without risking fines and legal proceedings. “I was really surprised to see that we were not allowed to use the bus lanes or the Olympic lanes.deplores Nordine Bounoura. If we don’t take them, hours and hours of delay will accumulate and it will no longer be manageable.”
Asked about this point, the police headquarters announced to franceinfo that“an easing of restrictions on medical transport of ‘sensitive patients’ is under consideration.” “We hope things will be better after the opening ceremony”sighs Serge Smadja, secretary general of SOS Médecins. All are hopeful that once the July 26 deadline has passed, their working conditions will gradually return to normal.