A resident of Maurepas deplores poor treatment by the firefighters he called while his wife was writhing in pain. Suspecting a stomach ache, they suggested that he take his wife to the emergency room himself, where the caregivers detected a potassium deficiency which could have been fatal.
The events occurred on October 24. This November 2, this resident of Maurepas, in Yvelines, made them public by testifying to Le Parisien. According to him, the firefighters whom he called for help that evening when his wife was suffering from intense pain, minimized the urgency of the situation and worse, according to him, were odious towards the couple. An attitudeUNUSUAL“, he denounces, which could have been fatal to his wife.
“The caregivers were stunned”
For several hours, his wife had not been able to drink or eat, due to gastroenteritis transmitted by their children, but as the acute abdominal pain became unbearable, the man called the emergency services, which arrived on site.very quickly, about ten minutes later” he testifies. Due to the violent cramps, his wife is unable to clearly describe her pain to the firefighters, who relay them directly to the Samu doctor by telephone but, according to the husband, in a distorted manner, in “systematically minimizing“the situation.”They were talking to him like he was an animal, yelling at him. They seemed disgusted to be there“. The Samu doctor, in view of the information thus transmitted, concludes “to a stomach ache” and authorized the firefighters to leave the scene. The latter, however, agreed to help the woman go down to the ground floor so that her husband could take her himself to the emergency room of the Trappes hospital. The man remembers hearing one of them exclaim: “It’s not a stomach ache that’s going to stop him from getting up.“.
In the emergency room, the diagnosis was quickly made: his wife was suffering from hypokalemia, a potassium deficiency which could, without immediate treatment, have led to cardiac arrest. Caregivers “were stunned” says the husband, “I was told that if I hadn't brought her, she would have been there.“
When asked, the Departmental Fire and Rescue Service defended the firefighters: “the intervention followed the entire procedure“, et “the care and support seem appropriate” he estimates, brushing aside the couple's accusations, still in shock more than a week after the events.
