They have been on strike since July 3. The medical regulation assistants (ARM), the first to pick up calls to the Samu, are on strike in 69 of the 100 departmental “15 centers”. “Exhausted” by a strong increase in activity, they are demanding salary increases and hiring, according to their national association Afarm.
While in the heart of summer, many hospitals had to restrict access to emergencies for lack of caregivers, and many general practitioners were absent, the authorities ordered “to call 15” as a first resort. For ARMs, “this necessarily generates additional activity”, of the order “of 30%, like last summer”, in particular in tourist areas, explains 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 of the new grids promised “during the passage of the Rist law”, when “the profession has been recognized as a health profession”, adds Yann Rouet.
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 Care Access Service (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.
