Coronavirus: what is the white plan, triggered in health establishments?

As the CoVid-19 epidemic continues to spread in France (1,126 people concerned, of whom 19 have died, according to the latest official figures), the Minister of Health Olivier Véran announced on Friday March 6 the triggering of the plan White. This crisis system allows establishments to face an exceptional health situation by mobilizing internally all the means at their disposal.

The plan sets out the terms and conditions under which the necessary personnel can be kept on site or recalled when the situation justifies it. All professionals, whether administration, doctors, caregivers or technical staff, are involved. The white plan also makes it possible to limit visits, adapt stocks to the situation, postpone non-essential interventions and open additional beds.

“Each health establishment has a crisis mechanism, called an establishment white plan, which allows it to immediately mobilize the resources of any kind at its disposal in the event of an influx of patients, or to deal with a health situation. exceptional. It can be triggered by the director or the person in charge of the establishment, who immediately informs the representative of the State in the department, or at the request of the latter. The stages of mobilization of human and material resources are declined in a graduated and sectoral way. Finally, the white plan specifies that each health establishment must have an operational crisis unit responsible for managing the alert, or even the crisis, led by the head of the establishment or his representative.details the Ministry of Health on its website. Thus, the white plan is triggered in each hospital in France, with means proportionate to the local situation.

A blue plan in nursing homes

In Creil and Compiègne, towns particularly affected by the epidemic, hospitals have already activated their white plan since February 25. In this context, employees have been mobilized to find people who have been in contact with contaminated patients. This involves establishing a map of contacts, recommending that the people concerned take the necessary precautions. However, the planis not linked, for the time being, to staff difficulties, nor to a massive influx of patients, nor to quarantine”, specifies the Regional Health Agency of Hauts-de-France.

At a more general level, the white plan is part of the orientations of the Orsan scheme (Oorganization of the response of the health system in exceptional health situations). Managed by the Regional Health Agency, the latter identifies the resources of health establishments that can be mobilized in the event of a health emergency and defines their conditions of employment. The ARS is therefore coordinating the response of the various hospitals to the crisis at the regional level.

The same approach must be initiated in medico-social establishments, including those providing accommodation for dependent elderly people (Ehpad). It is called blue plan. “Developed under the responsibility of the director of the medico-social establishment, the blue plan is an organizational plan allowing the rapid and coherent implementation of the essential means to deal effectively with a crisis, whatever its nature. ”explains theRegional Health Agency of Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur. This measure may result in the confinement of residents and staff or, on the contrary, their evacuation.

The white plan has already been triggered in the past during epidemics of influenza or gastroenteritis, as well as to deal with crisis situations such as attacks. This was particularly the case after the Bataclan in November 2015 and the Strasbourg shooting in December 2018.