Cyber attacks, burglaries, assaults, the world of medicine is immune to nothing. As proof, the hospital group of the southern Ile-de-France (GHSIF) of Melun has just been the victim of the theft of eighteen endoscopes for damages estimated at 400 thousand euros. This is a material used mainly in the field of gastroenterology. The events took place between Friday evening 4 November and Sunday evening 7 November because the endoscopy department is closed during the weekend.
“For us it’s a cold shower! We are here to save people, to heal them. But the hospital can fall victim to people stealing medical equipment and then attacking patients who need an examination first. This questions us about the profession… ”, comments Dominique Peljak, the plant manager.
“We will add cameras, locks, alarms”
According to him, “this is not an act of petty crime, but an organized network. It was someone who could locate the endoscopy block. Four doors were broken. The author knew which cabinet to look for and stole a certain brand of endoscope, leaving others, ”he explains.
Within half an hour of the discovery of the theft, a crisis unit was set up. Dominique Peljak still wants to reassure patients. First those affected by a vital emergency. “We happened to have an endoscope stored in a suitcase. So it is usable for ICU patients. In addition, the Saint-Jean l’Ermitage clinic, located next door, lent us one, as well as the Fontainebleau hospital. I thank them. Without forgetting the Corbeil-Essonnes South Ile-de-France Hospital Center, which offered to take care of vital emergencies in case of great difficulty.
What about inpatients who have had to undergo an endoscopy? “They couldn’t do it in the operating room of the endoscope which was damaged during the break-in. In the meantime, the clinic has lent us a room since Wednesday ”.
Finally, 95% of scheduled endoscopies were postponed. “The service is closed on Friday 11 November and for the whole weekend, except in emergencies. Our supplier hired seven endoscopes from us. The time to sterilize them and above all to take samples to check them, we should be able to resume normal activity in our block on Tuesday ”.
The director of the GHSIF, in fact, is therefore at the forefront of understanding this new reality that no longer spares hospitals. “We will be more rigorous in accessing the establishment, more restrictive. An audit will be carried out to define the hospital’s weaknesses. And we’ll add cameras, locks, alarms. It will be money spent at the expense of personnel and biomedical equipment. It’s sad, but you have to adapt. “
On 30 July, fifteen endoscopes were stolen from a private clinic in Evry-Courcouronnes for an estimated damage of € 500,000.
I am a former detective with the Veterans Administration Police in Chicago. Illinois.
I worked at the two Veterans Administration Medical Centers in Chicago.
I have been researching the theft of medical equipment for over 16 years.
I would assume that criminal gangs from Columbia, were behind these thefts.
They then ship the scopes back to Columbia. They were very active in Europe prior to the pandemic.