Outside hours help

[Val_2]

In case those of you new to France don't realise, you can telephone SAMU on 15 outside surgery hours and speak with an online doctor to advise you of anything you can take or do temporarily and they will also give you info for emergency dentists and doctors etc. Of course,you will have to speak french so if you are not very fluent or confident a neighbour could help you there.

[Miki]

We have had to use that number on occasions with our guests, when as you say, it is outside local surgery hours.

The trouble with it can all too often be, that there can be times

(especially at the moment with the Doctors not happy with the way the

system is ), when  no Doctor is actually available in your area.

We were actually told by one of our own Doctor's, when she was "on

call",  that she was not available for a while, as she was dealing

with an emergency and told Samu,  who then sent another Doctor

from another area to another St James which was 85 km's away from the

patient in need ! Not their fault but the Doctor's, for not knowing the

region too well !

We have been told on more than one occasion to have directions handy

for our guests, as to how to reach the nearest  hospitals, with

the necesssary emergency department. A couple of French guests already

knew of this and have asked us as to the closest (and hopefully, the

best ) hospital, it makes sense to do so if it is not actually a dire

emergency and the patient is OK to be taken by car.

If one does have a real emergency need for attention, then convincing

them of the urgency of the situation, is all that is usually

required.  You will be asked questions as to the dire need and as

Val say's, you will need to be able to understand what is being asked.

So if you cannot, get someone who can speak to the call centre.

[Teamedup]

I agree that it can be good if there is a doctor there at the SAMU. The last time I tried to use this number there was not one available and they gave me the number of the medecine de garde.

[Mayennaise]

I was unlucky enough to have to call for emergency treatment one Sunday morning. MOH (whose brain is not awake at 8am and has even less French than me!) rang the emergency number and managed to convey to the operator the need for a doctor. He was asked if I could be taken to the emergency doc on duty in a nearby village. Once he had worked out what she was saying, he answered in the affirmative and was given another number to call.  When he rang this number he reached a charming Doc who thankfully spoke perfect English, so was able to describe my symptoms and was promptly asked to put me in the car and drive me to the surgery. It turned out that I had a kidney stone (far worse pain than being in labour!!!) so ended up in hospital!. The Doc was marvellous and gave a shot of something nice to dull the pain for the journey to the hospital.

We were in the same village a few weeks after and made a point of speaking the this loveley doc when we saw him and thanked him. He was delighted to see that I had made a full receovery and had even written to my doc to let him know what had happened.

Not that I would want to go through that episode again, it is very reassuring to know how the system works and also how well. 

[Teamedup]

OK so when does one phone the SAMU then?

If I really needed medical treatment then I would, for something minor, always phone my GP first as they always have  the number of the medecine de garde on their repondeur if it is out of hours. Serious and I would call the Pompiers or go straight to les Urgences.

The only reason I have ever called the SAMU is if I need to know which, say 'flu relief' I can take with the prescriptions I am already taking. And as I said, the last time I called, there wasn't even anyone there who could even tell me that, so a waste of time really.

 

[Agenais]

I would opt for the pompiers for a medical emergency too, if I was unable to get to les urgences,  they are very well trained in medical emergency treatment and transport. 

[Miki]

Around here TU, after calling the Doc "out of hours" to get the number

for the medecin de guarde, the answerphone can sometimes cut in at the

MdG and then  give you "appel 15" for SAMU. Not sure how the

Pompiers would do it without official call out here but as you say, the

Samu/Pompiers will be the ones who arrive in real emergencies anyway.

We have rung the local pharmacie on rota,  if a guest wants to

know if medecines they are on are OK to use with another, often someone

has known at the place or again, as you say, hope that SAMU have

someone there or at least able to be called.

Urgences certainly are the sensible persons choice for smaller or non

emergency problems and is getting more and more the norm, now that Docs

are not covering it all, like in years gone by.