State of Emergency in Emergency Rooms ---- Periodically, during health
crises, waves of flu, bronchiolitis, or during the summer holidays, a
cry of alarm rings out among healthcare professionals, local elected
officials, and patients. Emergency rooms are about to close. Public
hospitals are underfunded, staff aren't being replaced, and bed closures
are making headlines in the regional press. Yet the comments of national
elected officials seem off the mark. Only the budget line matters. And
the institutional right and left can align service and bed cuts while
medical deserts expand. Certainly, the Prime Minister's chin-jerk
gestures attempt to deceive, but no one believes it. It's astonishing
how an elected official who claims to be close to the local level can
forget his sources, once he reaches the height of his ambitions.
In her book, "Etat d'urgences," Caroline Brémaud evokes (that's its
subtitle) The Daily Life of a Doctor Fighting for Public Hospitals. A
testimony published in Seuil. Her daily life, that of a head of the
emergency department in Laval, a medium-sized town of 50,000 inhabitants
in Mayenne. Yes, the daily life...
Ensuring the Daily Life
During her studies, she appreciated the difficulties of her profession,
the night shifts, the suffering, the violence of life and death. She
never expected to experience such detachment from the institutions
responsible for the health of France's inhabitants, the famous ARS
(Regional Health Agencies). Budget fixation as a form of health policy.
Many local elected officials were up in arms against these machines
during the Covid crisis; the government pretended to make big decisions,
with a law as usual, but ultimately made very little change.
Caroline Brémaud, let's call her Caroline, decided to go on strike on
October 8, 2021. She wrote a powerfully worded statement on social
media. A terrible observation, yet so true.
To cope, we struggle with an administration entrenched in its
procedures, its public procurement rules that would be laughable if they
didn't undermine public service and its principles of equality,
adaptability, continuity, and neutrality.
The teams are exhausted, Caroline tells us about their daily lives,
right down to the painful decision-making process of which people
receive priority treatment, a situation obviously rejected by
politicians who look the other way.
It's about humanity.
Patients, professionals, all are victims. How can we leave patients on
stretchers in emergency room corridors? She explains that this makes the
situation worse for the person. Some die, and then the judicial system
starts rolling. We'll find a responsible nurse... We always have to find
the weak point.
Yet it's about humans. Humans are fragile. And suicide isn't always far
away.
Caroline explains the moral harassment, the contempt shown by some
doctors, and the hierarchical structure.
Where are the patients' rights?
Faced with the denunciation of the shortcomings and difficulties, all
real, rather than addressing them, the administration is
administratively reorganizing the emergency rooms in this department and
the region. The primary objective: this allows them to get rid of this
dangerous whistleblower, so appreciated by her colleagues and the media.
And meanwhile, our healthcare system is collapsing, you know, the one
the whole world envies us...
* Caroline Brémaud
State of Emergencies,
The Daily Life of a Doctor Fighting for Public Hospitals
Ed. du Seuil, 2025
https://monde-libertaire.fr/?articlen=8453
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
crises, waves of flu, bronchiolitis, or during the summer holidays, a
cry of alarm rings out among healthcare professionals, local elected
officials, and patients. Emergency rooms are about to close. Public
hospitals are underfunded, staff aren't being replaced, and bed closures
are making headlines in the regional press. Yet the comments of national
elected officials seem off the mark. Only the budget line matters. And
the institutional right and left can align service and bed cuts while
medical deserts expand. Certainly, the Prime Minister's chin-jerk
gestures attempt to deceive, but no one believes it. It's astonishing
how an elected official who claims to be close to the local level can
forget his sources, once he reaches the height of his ambitions.
In her book, "Etat d'urgences," Caroline Brémaud evokes (that's its
subtitle) The Daily Life of a Doctor Fighting for Public Hospitals. A
testimony published in Seuil. Her daily life, that of a head of the
emergency department in Laval, a medium-sized town of 50,000 inhabitants
in Mayenne. Yes, the daily life...
Ensuring the Daily Life
During her studies, she appreciated the difficulties of her profession,
the night shifts, the suffering, the violence of life and death. She
never expected to experience such detachment from the institutions
responsible for the health of France's inhabitants, the famous ARS
(Regional Health Agencies). Budget fixation as a form of health policy.
Many local elected officials were up in arms against these machines
during the Covid crisis; the government pretended to make big decisions,
with a law as usual, but ultimately made very little change.
Caroline Brémaud, let's call her Caroline, decided to go on strike on
October 8, 2021. She wrote a powerfully worded statement on social
media. A terrible observation, yet so true.
To cope, we struggle with an administration entrenched in its
procedures, its public procurement rules that would be laughable if they
didn't undermine public service and its principles of equality,
adaptability, continuity, and neutrality.
The teams are exhausted, Caroline tells us about their daily lives,
right down to the painful decision-making process of which people
receive priority treatment, a situation obviously rejected by
politicians who look the other way.
It's about humanity.
Patients, professionals, all are victims. How can we leave patients on
stretchers in emergency room corridors? She explains that this makes the
situation worse for the person. Some die, and then the judicial system
starts rolling. We'll find a responsible nurse... We always have to find
the weak point.
Yet it's about humans. Humans are fragile. And suicide isn't always far
away.
Caroline explains the moral harassment, the contempt shown by some
doctors, and the hierarchical structure.
Where are the patients' rights?
Faced with the denunciation of the shortcomings and difficulties, all
real, rather than addressing them, the administration is
administratively reorganizing the emergency rooms in this department and
the region. The primary objective: this allows them to get rid of this
dangerous whistleblower, so appreciated by her colleagues and the media.
And meanwhile, our healthcare system is collapsing, you know, the one
the whole world envies us...
* Caroline Brémaud
State of Emergencies,
The Daily Life of a Doctor Fighting for Public Hospitals
Ed. du Seuil, 2025
https://monde-libertaire.fr/?articlen=8453
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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