- A fourth confirmed case of coronavirus was announced in France on Tuesday evening.
- French expatriates returning from China are expected to arrive in France between Thursday and Saturday.
- Will emergencies be able to cope with an influx of calls and consultations if the epidemic sets in in France? 20 Minutes takes stock.
The numbers are swelling on the other side of the world. This Wednesday, Chinese health authorities announced that the famous "2019-nCoV" had left 132 dead and that 5,974 cases of contamination were confirmed.
While for the moment, only four cases have been listed in France and expatriates living in China will be repatriated between Thursday and Saturday, emergencies are being organized to deal with a possible epidemic on French soil. Or a collective psychosis…
Between 25 and 30% more calls
"We have seen a 25% to 30% increase in calls to the 15 in Ile-de-France in recent days," said Agnès Ricard-Hibon, president of the French Society of Emergency Medicine (SFMU). An influx that seems especially Ile-de-France. Pierre Yves Gueugniaud, director of Samu de Lyon, does not share this observation. "On Sunday, we even saw a 12% drop in calls compared to last year," he said. Between Monday and Tuesday, we are between + 2 and + 6%, an increase really at the margin. On average, we receive between 10 and 20 calls related to the coronavirus. No mass panic, therefore.
Emergency doctors insist that they are organized, trained and used to dealing with this kind of event. "We have reinforced the staff to manage this influx," said the president of the SFMU. But sorting turns out to be quite simple if these doctors are to be believed. "These are short calls and the majority are classified as" excluded cases ", continues the doctor. But for "possible cases", we send a dedicated ambulance with protected personnel (with overcoats, FFP2 masks, etc.). These suspected cases are sent to the 36 reference centers specializing in these epidemics. This device makes it possible to avoid patients wandering and therefore to limit the penetration of the epidemic on French territory as much as possible. Because the moment is crucial. "
Relevant calls… others less
The emergency physicians are unanimous: there is no reason for psychosis to settle since the protocol is well established and publicized. "We are lucky in France to be able to obtain medical advice 24 hours a day while staying at home," recalls the president of the SFMU. This system works: it has proven itself in the other three epidemics: Ebola, SARS and the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS ‐ CoV). "
She assures him: for the moment, the emergency services are not affected by this coronavirus. As long as French women follow the advice of health authorities. "It is good news that the calls are increasing, since we have asked people who suspect a coronavirus to call the Samu and especially not to go directly to the emergency room or to offices in town. In fact, taking the metro to go to a general practitioner's waiting room means taking the risk of contaminating hundreds of people. "For now, people are respecting the instructions," confirms the Lyons emergency physician.
However, not all calls are necessarily relevant ... "Yesterday, a mechanic called us because he had received a package from China, he wanted to know if he could open the package without risk," said Yves Gueugniaud. "It is not worth calling us because you ate in a Chinese restaurant or because you met Asian tourists on the street," adds Agnès Ricard-Hibon. There are irrational fears, it's normal. "Provided that these unnecessary worries do not drown the emergency services, which could then miss serious patients. A website made by the ministry allows to get information without blocking the lines of the Samu. And the authorities insist that the coronavirus can only be caught by the postilions and the hands. So no chance of getting infected if you ordered Cantonese rice or a TV made in China…
Furthermore, the repatriation of French people living in China should not clog emergencies either. Indeed, those who do not show symptoms will be gathered in one place and will remain under medical supervision for fourteen days, the maximum estimated duration of incubation of the disease.
Much-requested emergencies
But if the ministry, like the health authorities, has every interest in reassuring public opinion, it is clear that this potential health emergency falls rather badly. If there was an epidemic, and if the public did not follow the instructions to avoid emergencies, caregivers would have to manage an influx in addition to the growing flu epidemic, which has killed 22 people since November, according to figures. of Public Health France published this Wednesday. At SOS Médecin, consultations are increasing sharply: + 11.3% last week. Similarly, emergency room visits and hospitalizations for influenza or influenza-like illness have increased sharply.
“The flu kills more than the coronavirus, insists the president of the SFMU. If the French took the instructions on the coronavirus with as much heart as they did for the flu, we might be able to limit the number of deaths. Perhaps there will be beneficial effects of this coronavirus on prevention ... "
In addition to the flu, the other ailments of winter - gastroenteritis, bronchiolitis, etc. - which congest emergencies. All in a climate where emergency workers have been mobilizing for almost a year to denounce their degraded working conditions and to say their exhaustion. “The flu is a priori under control, gastro at the end of the race. If something else happens, technically, we are able to cope, reassures Pierre Yves Gueugniaud. Health workers have demonstrated for years that whatever their fatigue, their gloom, they know how to mobilize in the event of a disaster. "
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