Blog Post: 2/26/16

Hello again! I have now been working for over three weeks now here in Puget. It has been really hard and long but thankfully also very interesting and fun.

Now, this week a lot has happened however nothing that I would really want to expand upon for over 400 words. So, what I thought I could do for this blog post is, instead of talking about my week, I could explain a little bit more about how the medical emergency systems work here in
France, especially the rural aspects of it.

So, unlike in America, where for any sort of emergency, you call 911; here, in France, for medical emergencies you call the number 15. Then, on the fifteen, you have a dispatcher. Now, unlike the dispatchers for 911 which have no real medical training but instead training in emotional support and triaging, these dispatchers have actual medical training and really have to understand the calls they are receiving. Now, what do I mean by "really understand the calls they are receiving"? Well, what I mean by that is that the dispatcher needs to take a medical emergency and organize it into three categories: non-emergent, slightly emergent and very emergent. Then, with each category the dispatcher has to then send in a different group of people or do a different action.

For non-emergent cases, the dispatcher just gives medical advice over the phone such as disinfect the cut and cover it or take this medication. That is all that is required and is why the medical dispatchers on the fifteen need to have basic medical training such as first aid. The, for slightly emergent cases, the dispatcher has the doctor in the region on-guard come over and examine the situation. That is what it means to be on-guard. It means that if there is ever an emergency and it is in our region, the fifteen calls us and we must go over there. This also applies for hospitals in that they can call us too. So, when we were on call, we had calls that came in around ten at night that we had to go too; the most dramatic one being two women in a psych ward getting into a fight.

Now, lastly, for very emergent cases, the dispatcher chooses to either send your stereotypical ambulance or a SAMU. A SAMU is a traveling hospital bed, in that a very skilled doctor and two very talented nurses with an abundant amount of medical supplies that set up there and work on the patient on site. The dispatcher must choose between these two types of groups to send for emergent situations. All of these different situations and outcomes are why the dispatcher for the 15 must very well trained and good at what they do.

Now, as a bonus for reading this lengthy post on French medical procedures, I have included a very ugly photo of myself at the local hospital in Puget. Now, if you look in the upper right corner of the photo, you will see that the clock reads 10, it was a fun night! Thanks for reading!