In an internal report that several media have been able to consult, the National Federation of Firefighters of France castigates the management of the crisis linked to Covid-19 by ministries and regional health agencies (ARS).
- A report by the National Federation of Firefighters denounces “crisis management far from fundamental principles”
- The FNSPF denounces “rivalries between ministries”, which would have had serious consequences
- She demands that “Covid-19 infections contracted by firefighters on duty” be recognized as an occupational disease
Has the Covid-19 crisis been well managed by the country’s authorities? A report from the National Federation of Firefighters of France (FNSPF) about to be handed over to the Ministry of the Interior, that The Parisian was able to consult, denounces a “crisis management far removed from fundamental principles”.
“Crisis management is a profession”
Over the 18 pages of the report, the FNSPF, which represents 247,000 firefighters, castigates the “political choice” of the Ministry of Health in its management of the crisis, the rigidity of the administrative services of the Samu and the Regional Health Agencies (ARS), as well as their “unpreparedness to manage a crisis of this magnitude and their lack of operational management culture”. “The prefects have been blind for a very long time, no descent of information was made by the territorial delegates of the ARScommented to AFP Colonel Hugues Deregnaucourt, vice-president of the Federation. Crisis management is a job, we don’t leave it to administrative and financial directors.”
The FNSPF denounces “rivalries between ministries”, which would have had serious consequences, especially in nursing homes. The ARS, “monopolized by the management of the number of places in hospital intensive care (…) have forgotten the EHPADs for too long, leaving the local authorities alone in the face of the death in number of our elders”notes the FNSPF, which proposes the creation of a “ministry of civil protection, as some countries do.”
“Underemployment” and lack of consideration
The federation also criticizes the executive for not having put emergency number in place as has been the case in other countries, this negligence having led to the saturation of 15. It now claims that two numbers coexist to call for help. Likewise, she denounces the “real bluster” evacuations of Covid patients thanks to the medicalized TGV, which she describes as “pure communication operations”. “Was it efficient to have victims travel hundreds of kilometers when there was often room in the clinic across the street?”asks the federation.
While all French people have taken the measure of the danger incurred by caregivers during this crisis, the firefighters deplore the general indifference linked to their fate, in particular during the tribute paid to caregivers by Emmanuel Macron on March 25 in Mulhouse. Overall, she denounces “underemployment” and “lack of consideration of operational capabilities” firefighters during the peak of the epidemic.
The FNSPF demands that the “Covid-19 infections contracted by firefighters on duty” be recognized as an occupational disease, as well as 100% coverage by Health Insurance of screening tests for those who have been exposed to the virus.
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