A-Infos (en) France, Monde Libertaire - State of Emergency (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

State of Emergency in Emergency Rooms ---- Periodically, during health 
crises, waves of flu, bronchiolitis, or during the summer holidays, a 
cry of alarm rings out among healthcare professionals, local elected 
officials, and patients. Emergency rooms are about to close. Public 
hospitals are underfunded, staff aren't being replaced, and bed closures 
are making headlines in the regional press. Yet the comments of national 
elected officials seem off the mark. Only the budget line matters. And 
the institutional right and left can align service and bed cuts while 
medical deserts expand. Certainly, the Prime Minister's chin-jerk 
gestures attempt to deceive, but no one believes it. It's astonishing 
how an elected official who claims to be close to the local level can 
forget his sources, once he reaches the height of his ambitions.

In her book, "Etat d'urgences," Caroline Brémaud evokes (that's its 
subtitle) The Daily Life of a Doctor Fighting for Public Hospitals. A 
testimony published in Seuil. Her daily life, that of a head of the 
emergency department in Laval, a medium-sized town of 50,000 inhabitants 
in Mayenne. Yes, the daily life...

Ensuring the Daily Life

During her studies, she appreciated the difficulties of her profession, 
the night shifts, the suffering, the violence of life and death. She 
never expected to experience such detachment from the institutions 
responsible for the health of France's inhabitants, the famous ARS 
(Regional Health Agencies). Budget fixation as a form of health policy. 
Many local elected officials were up in arms against these machines 
during the Covid crisis; the government pretended to make big decisions, 
with a law as usual, but ultimately made very little change.

Caroline Brémaud, let's call her Caroline, decided to go on strike on 
October 8, 2021. She wrote a powerfully worded statement on social 
media. A terrible observation, yet so true.

To cope, we struggle with an administration entrenched in its 
procedures, its public procurement rules that would be laughable if they 
didn't undermine public service and its principles of equality, 
adaptability, continuity, and neutrality.

The teams are exhausted, Caroline tells us about their daily lives, 
right down to the painful decision-making process of which people 
receive priority treatment, a situation obviously rejected by 
politicians who look the other way.

It's about humanity.

Patients, professionals, all are victims. How can we leave patients on 
stretchers in emergency room corridors? She explains that this makes the 
situation worse for the person. Some die, and then the judicial system 
starts rolling. We'll find a responsible nurse... We always have to find 
the weak point.

Yet it's about humans. Humans are fragile. And suicide isn't always far 
away.

Caroline explains the moral harassment, the contempt shown by some 
doctors, and the hierarchical structure.

Where are the patients' rights?

Faced with the denunciation of the shortcomings and difficulties, all 
real, rather than addressing them, the administration is 
administratively reorganizing the emergency rooms in this department and 
the region. The primary objective: this allows them to get rid of this 
dangerous whistleblower, so appreciated by her colleagues and the media. 
And meanwhile, our healthcare system is collapsing, you know, the one 
the whole world envies us...

* Caroline Brémaud
State of Emergencies,
The Daily Life of a Doctor Fighting for Public Hospitals
Ed. du Seuil, 2025

https://monde-libertaire.fr/?articlen=8453
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