“Patients must be safe”

Tnon-compliant emergency redhead, absence of a bank card reader for payments and… non-presentation of proof of prefectural authorization to carry out his profession: a taxi checked Wednesday November 20, in Tarnos, by the Departmental Road Safety Squadron ( EDSR), left with a fine, with his lighting system on the roof turned off and covered with a hood.

“As long as he does not have his prefectural authorization, he is not authorized to drive. We are not able to verify, to summarize, that he has his 'taxi license',” explains Dimitri Aggoun, adjutant of the EDSR, a gendarmerie unit fighting against road insecurity. This driver “committed three offenses that a taxi professional cannot ignore,” continues the gendarme based in Mont-de-Marsan.

“If they want to provide medical transport, they must comply with CPAM regulations”

During the operation carried out on the morning of Wednesday, November 20 at the Garros roundabout, still in Tarnos, five of the seven taxis checked presented deficiencies in their first aid kit system even though they are approved by the Primary Insurance Fund disease (CPAM) to transport patients. In the Landes, many taxis also operate with health insurance, medical trips which represent a major part of their trips. “If they want to provide medical transport, they must comply with CPAM regulations,” implores the gendarme.

Ambulances were also checked that day. They must also provide supporting documents and emergency materials. A departmental inspector from the Regional Health Agency (ARS) was also present on Wednesday to check “the quality of transport”. The issue is vital. “Patients must be safe” during this transport financed by Health Insurance.

Positives for cannabis

The gendarmes may also be “required to carry out alcohol and drug tests”, adds the ARS inspector. Because as improbable as it may seem, checks have already revealed ambulance drivers or taxi drivers exhibiting criminal conduct.

Latest examples to date: Sunday, November 3, soldiers from the Saint-Sever motorized brigade intercepted an ambulance driver driving at 138 km/h on a road limited to 110. The professional, who was transporting a patient, was also under the influence of narcotics, in this case cannabis, with the particularity of being in a position of legal recidivism for having been convicted of similar acts in 2023. In Narrosse, in Grand Dax, he is a driver of a “taxi approved with a patient on medical transport prescription” who recently tested positive for cannabis.

During the operation carried out on Wednesday in Tarnos, on the four light ambulance medical vehicles, no infringement was noted. The media coverage of this intervention, obviously carried out on scheduled non-urgent transport, serves as a warning: no driver is safe from inspection.