Mr. Simon Murith, vice-president of the Patients’ Federation, I do not share your opinion expressed in your letter of April 20. I support the H24 initiative and allow me to share an experience at the Friborg Hospital (HFR).
About twenty years ago, my friend had a heart attack. We were in the forest: by the time the ambulance picked him up and took him to the HFR in Fribourg, the doctor informed me that it was too late. However, that day, a nurse still saved his life, not with a defibrillator, but with the strength of his body which made his heart restart. He lived another twenty-two years. When time counts, the human factor of local healthcare personnel can be as successful in saving a life as a state-of-the-art machine.
By restoring the emergency rooms of our local hospitals to working order, both in the south and in the north, we would save significant time and respect the fact that our canton is bilingual. In addition, as the population continues to increase in our canton, an expansion of the emergency waiting room and therefore an extension of the time taken to treat people will be inevitable if everything is centralized in Fribourg. Reasons why I will vote in favor of the H24 initiative on June 9.
