the essential
Narbonne’s emergency rooms are the first to suffer from hospital saturation. For a week, the influx of patients has been continuous and the department is always full. A crisis situation reminiscent of that of Covid-19.
The Narbonne emergency room is underwater. For a week, the hospital department has not been empty. Friday January 3, 2025, at the end of the day, firefighters and private ambulance drivers even found themselves blocked in front of the emergency room due to the lack of stretchers, which prevented them from dropping off patients. “Some were stuck for an hour and a half”regrets Doctor Alain Peret, head of the Narbonne emergency department since 2014. An unprecedented situation which reflects the crisis the hospital is going through at the start of the year. “The last time we were impacted like this was in 2021 with Covid-19. Every winter, there are epidemic peaks but the last ones were not as strong.”
49 people hospitalized in one day
Except that since the end of year holidays, respiratory pathologies have spread widely. With influenza A at the top of the ranking. If, in the first days, the hospital was able to cope with the massive influx of sick people because the establishment was unclogged during the holidays, the start of the school year ultimately clogged all services. “In Narbonne, on average, we have 125 entries per day. Friday, we had 181 entriespoints out Alain Peret. It hasn’t stopped since.” That same Friday, 49 people were hospitalized, compared to 20 to 30 on average. Which led those responsible to trigger the crisis situation on Monday January 6, but not the white plan.
The consequences of this massive influx of patients are immediate. Emergency rooms are overwhelmed and no longer have enough space for treatment. The post-emergency waiting room has been transformed into a treatment room, with some patients having been there for 24 hours. “It is not normal for us to be hospitalized in these conditions in 2025”assures the head of emergency, who, pointing to the corridor, adds that it will soon be taken over by new patients.
Patients end up accumulating in the emergency room because the downstream beds (the other departments of the hospital) are saturated. “We are the front door to the hospital, and we are very dependent on the space available to other departments to accommodate patients”continues Alain Peret. Like a funnel, patients enter the hospital through the emergency room, which is overwhelmed and has difficulty sending patients to authorized departments due to lack of space in the latter. “However, we are lucky that in Narbonne, we have services which are responsive and which try to streamline as much as possible.” A system supposed to reduce this traffic jam effect. A very seized cork to say the least. “Normally in the emergency room you spend three to six hours there. Right now some patients have been there for 24 hours.”
-A situation that will last until the end of January?
Patients’ families are sometimes the first to show their dissatisfaction: “They are tense to see their loved ones hospitalized in these conditions. But unfortunately, we cannot do otherwise.”
This critical situation is expected to last several more weeks. In Occitania, the epidemic peak has not yet been reached. “We must expect to be overwhelmed for three more weeks, until the end of January”deplores the health professional, who describes this situation as “dramatic” and which recalls that of the flu in January 2018. A crisis which exhausts staff, who strive to carry out their missions despite an overload of work. Because in addition to welcoming new patients, there is the mission of SMUR (Mobile Emergency and Resuscitation Structure).
80 to 90% of patients on oxygen are not vaccinated
In this chaotic period, Alain Peret wants to send a message of prevention, while teaching. “The vaccine does not necessarily prevent the flu but it protects against serious forms and therefore helps avoid ending up in a hospital bed. We have 80 or 90% of patients on oxygen who are not vaccinated .”
The doctor notes that the Covid-19 crisis will not have allowed us to learn any real lessons: “Good hygiene reflexes have not been passed down to the general population. We are not suspicious and we are naive about the transmission of viruses…”
