A week ago the EMS Vaud launched a call for help to the population. As victims of an absenteeism rate of 8%, they looked for reinforcement in the population. The sick or quarantined staff reached 350 full-time equivalents (FTE) in health care and half in other institutional occupations.

A total of 1,400 volunteers have registered on the Vaudois Red Cross website. The results are therefore positive, but of the roughly one hundred specific inquiries from medical-social, psychosocial, socio-educational or home care facilities, only half of the demand could be met.

“We have a great surge of solidarity from people who have a little time to check Covid passports, do logistics, help in the kitchen, the Lausanne region Philippe Anhorn in La Matinale Tuesday.

“They can be part-time workers, retirees or students who have time to devote themselves,” he adds.

>> The theme of La Matinale:

“My current mission is a mediator. I help to be there for the elderly, to talk to them, to tell them stories, to read their newspaper, to feed them,” says Yann Perez, full-time volunteer at Lavaux Hospital and trained Barber. “It lets me get to know another universe. I feel very comfortable in it. “

Non-nursing volunteers receive CHF 33 per hour. The remuneration is higher for nurses.

However, not all volunteers who apply on the Vaudois Red Cross website are not hired, and not just because of inadequate health training.

“Placement difficulties can also result from the constraints of people who are not necessarily available at any time of the day or night, but also from their geographic preferences and their ability to move around in remote regions such as the health centers in the Pays-d’Enhaut or the Vallée de Joux, “explains Philippe Anhorn.

>> Interview with Philippe Anhorn: