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Reading 3 mins.
in collaboration with
Dr Gérald Kierzek (Medical Director of Doctissimo)
A psychiatrist in the Nice region suffered a stroke one evening in September on his way home from work. After trying in vain to make the Samu understand his problem, he ends up going to the emergency room himself. Fortunately for him, the story ends well.
This is a story that could have taken a dramatic turn, told by our colleagues from Nice morning. As he comes home from work, Anthony, a psychiatrist in the Nice region, feels bad. Intense headache, difficulty speaking, then swallowing his saliva… After having waited for thirty minutes, not wanting to disturb the emergency services unnecessarily, seeing that his condition was not improving, he tried to contact the emergency services, guessing that his condition worsens.
SAMU: 5 calls and a diagnosis of angina
On the phone, the Samu operator does not understand him. He asks her to pass him someone. Anthony then calls in a neighbor and the Samu doctor concludes that he has angina, promising to send him SOS Doctors during the night. Unconvinced, he had the 15th and 18th recalled by his companion and his neighbor.
After five calls, without succeeding in passing the barrier of regulation, which continues to pose the diagnosis of angina, Anthony begins to give up. On going to his bathroom, he notices a paralysis of his face and is alarmed by the seriousness of his situation.
Stroke: he goes to the emergency room by Uber
The doctor decides to go to the emergency room on his own. On the spot, we still make him wait in the waiting room, with a ticket. Finally, a nurse recognizes him and immediately sends him to the emergency room. At 11 p.m., his real care begins. MRI, thrombolysis treatment: Anthony will remain hospitalized for 15 days. He is then unable to speak and will be fed by tube.
No complaint filed
Today, more than two months after this misadventure which could have cost him his life, Anthony is doing better. He has recovered his voice and now wants to warn about the stroke, but does not want to file a complaint against the Samu, because working himself at the hospital, he knows well the tensions and the lack of personnel from which he suffers.
However, he wishes to emphasize that his story is not “unique”. “I have since been able to talk with other stroke victims who have encountered similar difficulties in being heard. And I can’t help but be irritated when I remember the text on the sign hanging in the neurology department where I was hospitalized: if you have difficulty speaking, headaches, don’t hesitate to call the 15.”
114, a specific number for people who cannot speak
“And today, when the emergency services are overwhelmed and the instructions are to go through the 15th, in my case, if I hadn’t taken the initiative to go to the emergency room, and they weren’t near my home, I wouldn’t talk anymore; thrombolysis can only be performed up to 4.5 hours after the onset of symptoms” Anthony adds.
In addition to these difficulties in the emergency services, he also faced another problem: the difficulty of expressing himself. For this, the emergency number to dial is 114, it is dedicated to deaf, hard of hearing, aphasic, dysphasic people…
What to do in case of stroke?
When questioned, Dr. Gérald Kierzek, emergency doctor and medical director of Doctissimo, recalls that stroke can affect anyone, and that it is an absolute emergency.
“Keep in mind the acronym FAST, who wants “quickly” in English, and who reminds us of the signs to know for stroke: Face (face) => Is his face paralyzed? Arm (arm) => Is the arm impossible to lift or falling? Speech => Does the person have difficulty expressing themselves? Time (time, absolute urgency) If any of these symptoms are present, it is absolutely necessary to call the emergency services immediately (time). I would like to point out that it is the same thing for a TIA, or transient ischemic attack, because we tend to think that the person has recovered and is better because the symptoms disappear, but no, it is also absolutely necessary to call the 15th”.