Heatwave in Toulouse: another challenge for emergency services and hospitals
The heat wave, and its possible impact on the health of the population, adds one more in the operation of the hospitals of Haute-Garonne.
If it is still too early to know the consequences of the heat wave on the health of the population, the triggering of the red alert for heat wave, Thursday afternoon, still mobilizes the caregivers. “Le 15 has received calls for discomfort and many requests for advice from people whose apartments do not go down in temperature. For the moment, we are still in the feeling, remaining attentive. We will see at the beginning of the week, after several days of heat wave, ”explains Professor Sandrine Charpentier, head of the emergency medicine center at the University Hospital Center (CHU) of Toulouse, who does not mention any modification in the organization of care.
White plan at the Toulouse University Hospital
Hospitals in Haute-Garonne and their teams could see a massive flow of patients arrive in an already highly complicated context due to staff shortages and bed closures. In the adult emergencies of Purpan (CHU), the white plan is always activated with an unlimited strike notice posed by the CGT. Over the past two weeks, due to a massive mobilization, only vital emergencies or those regulated by Samu 31 have been received at Purpan between Sunday and Tuesday. The scenario could repeat itself again on Sunday. On Friday evening, the teams were preparing to experience a tense work environment with, in addition, the closure of the emergency rooms at the L’Union clinic and uncertainty as to the opening of those at the Cèdres clinic in Cornebarrieu (group Ramsey). “We are going to organize ourselves as best we can. It is necessary to preserve the vital urgency and to privilege the regulation by the 15 outside the opening hours of the medical surgeries. », adds Professor Sandrine Charpentier.
Yesterday, in a press release, the paramedic teams of Samu 31 expressed their support for their colleagues in the emergency reception services, mentioning “emergencies which are regularly overflowing and which are already out of breath at the start of the summer”. “Despite many calls for help, we do not seem to be heard, the long-awaited Ségur has given birth to a mouse”.
Good reflexes
To preserve access to the emergency room for patients in life-threatening emergencies, it is important to follow a few tips:
– call your doctor first
– outside the opening hours of medical practices, contact the nearest medical center or dial 39 66
– in case of doubt or vital emergency composer on the 15th.
The following signs should alert you in periods of high heat: dizziness, confusion, dizziness, headache, intense thirst, high body temperature. Children, the elderly and those unable to verbalize these resentments should be watched in particular.