Due to a lack of beds and human resources, emergency services are currently under pressure in France. From December 2021 to February 2023, over thirty thousand
due to the lack of beds in emergency services across the country. Increasing waiting times reflect this need for more resources. For instance, the
has decreased yearly. Before the coronavirus pandemic, ERs registered over 21 million visits annually. Although the
significantly reduced during the pandemic, 2021 figures show an increasing trend that suggests ER foot traffic will soon rebound. That year, there were, on average, 53.3 thousand
(ER) across metropolitan France.
SAMU
In France, different organizations provide emergency medical services. The central organizations that offer these services are called SAMU, which stands for "Service d'Aide Médicale Urgente" (Urgent Medical Aid Service). Local SAMU organizations operate the control rooms that answer emergency calls and dispatch medical responders. In 2021, there were 95
SAMU centers across metropolitan France, yet their regional presence differed significantly. That year, the SAMU picked up over 26 million
phone calls and registered 17.7 million
regulatory files.
SMUR
In 2021, the French Mobile Emergency and Resuscitation Services (SMUR) registered 722.5 thousand
dispatches. Of these dispatches, roughly 545 thousand were primary dispatches, and around 177 thousand were transfers. A "primary" dispatch refers to specialized medical care provided to one or more patients not admitted to any health facility and whose condition requires urgent medical attention and medical expertise for emergency care or resuscitation and their orientation. That year, over 148 thousand transfers were made under specialized medical supervision, while the SMUR registered over 28 thousand dispatches under nursing supervision. Nonetheless, only a fourth of ER visits in the country required ambulance or rescue and victim assistance vehicles (VSAV) in 2021. According to the
distribution of ER visits by transport modes, personal transport was France's most common mode of transport to emergency services.
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