[Feedback from the establishment of a psychiatric regulation line at SAMU 62 in the context of Covid-19].
Annales Medico-Psychologiques · 2021-05-28 · Implementation & quality improvement
Abstract
The epidemic context of Covid-19 and the containment measures, put in place since 16 March 2020, has significantly increased the number of emergencies calls in call center (SAMU). In the department of Pas-de-Calais, one step of the crisis measures was setting up a psychiatric regulation line, which aims to manage calls with strong emotional valence (in connexion with containment, anxiety related to the epidemic context, or break in psychiatric cares for people suffering of mental disorders). This psychiatric hotline was provided from 20 March 2020 to 15 May 2020 by fifteen psychiatric careers (psychiatrists, psychologists and psychiatric nurses) from the network of the medical-psychological emergency unit (unit of the emergency call center which aims to manage people involved in psychotraumatic events). In total, 556 calls were answered, i.e. an average of 9,8 calls per day. The typology of calls was in a quarter of the cases anxiety related to the fear of being infected, in the second quarter, adjustment disorders related to containment, and for about half of the calls, psychiatrics symptoms whether it was preexisting and increased by the discontinuation of care, or context-induced. The benefits identified by this device were as follows: -the discharge of time-consuming calls for the medical dispatcher assistant, -the expertise of a mental health professional, knowing the mental health network, to make the decision more fluid. Last but not least, it is interesting to note that the presence of the psychiatric regulator in the regulation room allowed a transfer of calls and a reciprocal acculturation. In view of the relevance of the establishment of a psychiatric regulation line in the epidemic context of Covid-19, it seems interesting to consider the sustainability of this system, which is part of a global context of evolution of the provision of emergency care.
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Tags
Communication & handover · COVID-19 pandemic · Implementation
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