Faced with absent doctors and “regulated” emergency services, the medical regulation assistants (ARM) are “exhausted”. On the front line to answer the calls of the Samu, they face a strong increase in activity. On strike in 69 of the 100 departmental “centres 15”, they are demanding wage increases and hiring, according to their national association Afarm.
This indefinite strike, which began on July 3, is little seen, because the striking ARMs are, like many caregivers, “generally assigned by the administration, and therefore to their position”, without loss of salary, explains Yann Rouet, co-president of Afarm (French association of medical regulation assistants). The strike thus has “no impact on the quality of response for the French”, he specifies.
30% higher activity
While in the heart of summer, many hospitals have to restrict access to emergencies for lack of caregivers, and many general practitioners are absent, the authorities enjoin “to call 15” as a first resort. For the ARMs, “this necessarily generates additional activity”, of the order “of 30%, like last summer”, in particular in tourist areas, details Yann Rouet.
“In the field, it’s complicated, we have the same time to manage a call”, “not always a solution to bring” to callers. The agents are “tired, exhausted, some are clearly exhausted”, continues this ARM from Côtes-d’Armor. “We are calling for recognition of the current hardship” or a monthly bonus of 100 euros, and details on the new grids promised “during the passage of the Rist law”, when “the profession has been recognized as a health profession”, adds he.
More calls each year
The Afarm is also asking for hiring, while according to it it lacks “about 800 ARM” in France to meet the needs and that the government intends to generalize by the end of the year the Service of access to care (SAS ). This service – which aims to direct certain patients from the 15th to care in city medicine, when their state of health does not justify recourse to the emergency room – must be generalized by the end of the year.
While the Minister of Health goes Monday afternoon to the bedside of emergencies and Samu, in Toulouse, “we would like him to talk about the profession”, said Yann Rouet who is waiting for “a strong gesture”. Each year, the Samu receive a total of some 30 million calls. According to the Court of Auditors, this number increased by 22% between 2014 and 2021.