First links in the relief chain, they receive calls at 15. They demand more means to exercise their profession, currently “out of breath”, especially in the face of the saturation of call centers.
“There is an urgent need to save the first caregivers of the health system”. The medical regulation assistants (ARM) of the Samu are calling for reinforcements and an upgrading of their profession, while calls for 15 have exploded under the effect of winter epidemics.
When you dial this emergency number, they are the ones who pick up the phone. They assess the degree of urgency and direct the call to the appropriate department. In some cases, they provide first aid from a distance.
The profession is “on the verge of implosion”, wrote this Tuesday in a press release the French Association of Medical Regulation Assistants (Afarm), one of the two organizations in the sector.
30 minute wait
According to the press release, at the national level, there would have been between 55% more calls throughout the territory in recent weeks, according to figures from Samu – Urgences de France (SUdF).
“Our job is emergencies. We are supposed to pick up calls in less than 60 seconds,” recalls with franceinfo Yann Rouet, co-president of Afarm.
“In some departments, there are pick-up times of 30 minutes, to have an ARM on the phone. This is an obvious danger for the population”, he adds. But “if it takes 30 minutes to pick up a call, next to how many cardio-respiratory arrests or hangings can we pass?”.
Strengthen the attractiveness of the profession
First interlocutors of patients during calls to centers 15, there are around 2,500 ARMs on French territory, according to Afarm, which is calling for “800 more to work in more humane conditions”.
Training capacities have been increased, and should reach around 750 places by the end of 2023, compared to 400 today. But these courses, which last ten months, are far from full. Organizations in the sector question the working conditions and the level of remuneration, which starts at around 1400 euros.
To enhance the attractiveness of the profession, they demand that ARMs be paid into the “caregiver sector” – and not administrative – of the public hospital service, but also in the “active category” in order to benefit from early retirement. .
A “breathless” profession
In addition, representatives of medical regulation assistants are demanding better recognition of “new coordinator and supervisor positions”, in order to “give future prospects” to the most experienced ARMs.
“Without status, without a communication campaign worthy of the name, we will not be able to recruit,” said AFP Yann Rouet, co-president of Afarm, who describes professionals “exhausted, who sometimes leave the ship in burnout”.
The association requests “an urgent appointment” from the Minister of Health, François Braun, an emergency doctor a few months ago.
“The trade is at the end of its tether and is issuing a last cry of warning. If this one remains unheard once again, it will be the last before an unprecedented national movement of ARMs”, warns the organization.
