“Thirty patients on the first day”: in Sommières, the first unscheduled care center in Gard meets a real need

Maxime de Wit, one of the three emergency doctors who carry the Censomed of Sommières. Midi Libre – K. H.

And, in a few months, the analysis laboratory will also be set up right next door. “We will thus be able to have immediate blood test results if pregnancy, heart attack or embolism are suspected, for example.”

“Adrenaline in emergencies”

Three emergency doctors and three nurses at the center. Their driving force: adrenaline and the esprit de corps of the emergency services. “Here, you need to have the eye and the nerves, the reactivity and the discipline”,summarizes Maxime de Wit who also recognizes the wear and tear of a job without schedules, the fatigue of nights on call, the stress of lives that sometimes slip through your fingers, the risk of burnout. “This center is a good compromise for me and it makes sense in the area”.

With him Morgan Viel, Alexia Gairard and Rudy Letchiny, regulars in emergency rooms or the Smur. “At the Nîmes University Hospital, we had 200 admissions per day in emergency rooms”, remembers Morgan. “And 80% are relative emergencies”, adds Alexia. The Sommières project, "innovative", immediately appealed to them. "In addition, the catchment area lacks doctors", notes Morgan who lives there.

Open seven days a week

In this center, open seven days a week, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. without appointment, with five treatment rooms equipped with all the equipment (defibrillator, ECG, IV, splints, etc.), doctors will take care of minor emergencies that do not require hospitalization: fracture, sprain, abscess to drain, renal colic, acute lower back pain, wound suture, asthma attack, etc.

Alexia, Rudy and Morgan, the three nurses. Midi Libre – K. H.

Cases that need to be seen quickly but not to the point of further embolizing the emergency services of university hospitals. Maxime de Wit, who worked for a long time in hospital emergency rooms, observes: “We must have two life-threatening emergencies per day on average. Sometimes, as in Lunel where there is only one doctor, there is a six-hour wait for conditions that could be treated elsewhere.”

“We do not replace the attending physician”

The emergency physician who has long practiced in Hérault where several unscheduled care centers have opened noted that “hospital emergency rooms are less busy since".

Obviously there is no question of replacing the treating physician, insist the initiators of this center. But 11% of Gardois do not have one and these doctors, often overwhelmed, also expect the complementarity of this new center. “The link with your doctor remains essential, you will never replace him”, says Maxime de Wit.

Very quickly, the center should reach the threshold of 80 patients per day estimated by emergency doctors.

Censomed, 2 rue de la Condamine, Sommières. 09 78 07 80 34.