REPORTAGE
In the Great East, and more particularly in Mulhouse, the French epicenter of the coronavirus epidemic, the situation is critical. "Impossible to speak to you before midday, I manage the evacuations of resuscitation patient towards the other regions", answers Europe 1 the boss of the emergencies of Mulhouse. Evacuations that confirm the statements made Tuesday by the prefect of the Grand-Est and Bas-Rhin region, Josiane Chevalier. Faced with "a number of infected people who keeps growing every day", the resuscitation capacities "are saturated in the Haut-Rhin" and "very largely occupied in the Bas-Rhin", she declared.
[#Coronavirus - # COVID19]
Find the update on Monday March 16, 2020
https://t.co/pNI4qaw3MV
▶ ️ 688 cases confirmed in the Haut-Rhin since the onset of the outbreak, 194 more than yesterday.
▶ ️ 2 additional deaths are unfortunately to be deplored pic.twitter.com/lgQDg7nsIk
"We are worried about the choices we will have to make later"
"We're full," says Sloane, a resuscitation nurse at Colmar hospital. "We are going to be short of respirators very quickly," she continues, recalling that if people do not respect the rules of confinement, the number of patients will increase too quickly. "We are worried about the choices that we will have to make later: whether we admit the patient, or not; who we intubate, who we do not intubate ... And we know full well that we are absolutely not psychologically ready to assume such choices ", adds the nurse who hopes for a real awareness of all citizens.
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Installation of a military hospital near Mulhouse
In the other departments of the Grand Est, in cities like Strabsourg, Metz, Nancy, the situation is not as tense, but everyone is preparing for the arrival of the wave. Monday evening, Emmanuel Macron announced the establishment of an "army service field hospital" in the region to curb the epidemic.
Several tents will be installed and boxes containing medical equipment will be delivered by air. The objective: to set up a resuscitation module to help the saturated emergency services in the region by installing around thirty beds, respiratory assistance equipment, and by mobilizing medical and nursing personnel from the army health service.
>> READ: Coronavirus: follow live developments