French hospital worker Sylvaine Menager shudders at the thought of a new heatwave. “We’re not ready,” said the representative of a trades union at a hospital in the town of Chartres, south-west of Paris. She and other health workers said the record-breaking heatwave that battered France in late June pushed hospital staff and patients to the brink. Menager described scenes of exhaustion and distress as doctors and nurses struggled to care for vulnerable patients when temperatures soared above 35C. Some staff members were in tears,
forced to decide which patients would receive the few fans or portable cooling units available, she said. In pediatrics, children slept on the floor in search of cooler air. In some places, tap water was lukewarm or even hot. Air-conditioning systems have been ordered, “but we are still waiting for them,” she said. Few homes, schools and hospitals in France have air conditioning, making them ill-equipped to face extreme temperatures that scientists say are increasingly becoming the norm. Across France, hospitals’ accounts are in the
red, and many facilities find themselves confronting the climate crisis with ageing infrastructure and chronic staff shortages. Some French politicians have denounced the government’s inadequate measures to help France face rising temperatures. Greens leader Marine Tondelier said healthcare workers and emergency services personnel worked “under deplorable conditions” during the June heatwave. She also pointed to shortages of ice in emergency rooms to treat cases of hyperthermia. The Greens on Thursday filed a no-confidence motion against the government over its alleged lack of preparedness for higher
temperatures, including the June heatwave, which claimed at least 1,000 lives. President Emmanuel Macron has defended his environmental record, saying adapting to climate change is particularly challenging when faced with unprecedented extremes. The government has earmarked €100 million in emergency spending to buy air conditioners, fans and other equipment, but deliveries are only just beginning. Due to current stock shortages, the vast majority will have to be imported, particularly from Asia, the government said. But some say it is too little too late. The heat
at one hospital in the northern town of Chauny was so “abominable” that union leader Laurence Mascoli said she was forced to launch a social media appeal for donations of portable air conditioners. While Mascoli welcomed the emergency fund established by the government, she stressed that aid must reach hospitals without delay and criticised the authorities for what she described as a lack of preparedness. While pressure on emergency rooms has eased, demand for care remains “very high”, driven in part by chronic illnesses that
tend to worsen in the days following a heatwave, Health Minister Stephanie Rist said on Wednesday. The Meteo-France weather agency said a new spell of elevated temperatures could hit next week, although they are not expected to be as extreme as June. “We are very worried about our vulnerable patients,” said Thierry Amouroux, spokesman for the National Union for Professional Nurses. He also said healthcare professionals were exhausted, weakened by having worked in temperatures of 35C to 40C indoors. Conditions might worsen further as some
staff will go on vacation in July, he warned. Amouroux argued that the air conditioning units ordered by the government would not be enough. “We have 3,900 hospitals and 7,500 nursing homes,” he said. “That’s fewer than three units each.” He said that installing mobile units at hospitals could prove challenging, as it would require running hoses through windows that are often sealed shut. He argued that nursing homes should instead be equipped with permanent air-conditioning systems. Yann Le Baron, national secretary of the UNSA
Sante-Sociaux union, welcomed the emergency measures but said they do not solve the problem of chronic understaffing and underfunding, or the healthcare system’s lack of adaptation to climate change. When the next heatwave hits, “we’ll once again be hanging up emergency thermal blankets,” he said.
France hospitals, extreme heat, heatwave, Chartres, Chauny, air conditioning shortage, unions, healthcare workers, hyperthermia, Meteo-France, Macron environmental record, €100 million emergency spending