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This Saturday, at the Ambroise-Paré hospital in Boulogne-Billancourt, a patient injured five staff members. How to explain the multiplication of attacks in hospitals? The answer of Dr Patrick Pelloux, emergency doctor.
According to a press release from the AP-HP, the tragedy took place on Saturday afternoon around 3:45 p.m. Five people, two doctors, two nurses and a security guard, were injured by a patient hospitalized in a short-term hospitalization unit (UHCD).
The patient was arrested by the police
According to the Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP), “theThe patient was hospitalized in a short-term hospitalization unit (UHCD). During his care, which required restraint, five staff including two doctors (…) two nurses (…) and a security guard were injured.”
The patient was immobilized by a security guard and then arrested by the police.
“All the medical and nursing teams on site as well as the security service were very shocked“, added the AP-HP, which did not specify the nature or the seriousness of the injuries of the victims.
Nevertheless, several sources would indicate that it is about an attack with the cutter.
Following this incident,psychological support for all the staff of the emergency reception service of the Ambroise-Paré AP-HP hospital is set up“, specified the AP-HP.
As for the patients, taken care of by the Samu, they were “referred to other emergency services in the area“.
Faced with this tragedy, the Minister of Health, François Braun, said “condemned in the strongest terms“aggression.”All my thoughts are with the injured victims and their loved ones.“, he added.
“Society has become hyper violent”
According to Dr. Patrick Pelloux, president of the association of emergency physicians in France, the multiplication of incidents in hospitals stems from a broader phenomenon.
“Society has, in general, become hyper violent. Violence, we see it everywhere, it affects all sectors. This incident is part of a long line of dramas, but it is no less terrible. One of the doctors was lacerated with a cutter, at the level of the face. It’s unbelievably violent. I hope that the patient at the origin of the facts will go to court, and at least, that he will be treated, that he cannot come out“, laments the emergency doctor.
“There is also the problem of emergencies, which are overcrowded. The working conditions are terrible, the hospital service is no longer able to meet demand and the staff is often burnt out. Result: When an aggressive person arrives at the hospital and attacks staff members, it is extremely difficult for them to respond or even hide. The premises are not even suitable“continues the emergency doctor.
He concludes by calling for a reaction from the public authorities: “The authorities are unaware of the situation. We must secure the premises, recruit staff – who must be supervised and helped – and put in place new procedures, with secure premises”.