- Sunday, at 9:05 pm, M6 broadcasts an issue of its information magazine "Zone Interdite" entitled "Doctors, nurses, nursing assistants: on the front line facing Covid-19".
- Journalists on the show have followed, over the past month, nursing staff from hospitals in Paris, Melun, Martigues, Colmar and Mulhouse.
- “Every evening at 8 p.m. we are at our windows to applaud and support them, but are we really aware of what they do on a daily basis? There, we will show it and I think it will shake more than one ”, suggests the host and journalist Ophélie Meunier to“ 20 Minutes ”.
This Sunday, at 9 pm on M6, the magazine Zone Interdite offers an immersion alongside the doctors, nurses and nursing assistants who are "on the front line facing Covid-19", according to the title of the documentary. The teams of the show have followed for a month the nursing staff of several hospitals in France, from Bichat (Paris 18th) to the emergencies of Melun (Seine-et-Marne), Martigues (Bouches-du-Rhône) or Colmar (Haut -Rhin) and even at the military field hospital in Mulhouse (Haut-Rhin). The journalist and presenter Ophélie Meunier explains to 20 Minutes the device put in place.
You started shooting a month ago, as soon as the first cases of coronavirus were diagnosed in France?
Absolutely. Before the first case, even, because we were on the front line to understand the situation in hospitals and the French health system which was already on the brink of breakdown. We were at Bichat hospital the day the first patient with Covid-19 was hospitalized in France. The shooting then took a turn. Everything has been reorganized day after day, with each time a new way of doing, thinking, facing the epidemic of the magnitude that we know. So we were at the same time in Bichat, in Melun, in Martigues… in hospitals which are all organized well but differently from each other to deal with the situation. We also had the agreement to follow the military field deployment in Mulhouse. A journalist, Emmanuel Réau, spent the weekend attending the installation and arrival of the first patients.
Wasn't it difficult to convince these hospitals to open their doors to the cameras?
Yes, it was complicated because it is a responsibility for them. Above all, we shouldn't disturb them in their work, but they are professional and so are we, so on that side, things are going well. It's a huge health risk too, teams shouldn't be infected. We take all the necessary measures, gloves, masks, etc. This was a real question for the hospitals, but they finally decided to open their doors to us because it is essential that the French realize the reality of the situation. It is truly catastrophic. Whenever I watch an extract of the current montage, I am on the verge of tears. What the carers do in public hospitals, how mobilized and they fight ... They are bulldozers, they don't ask themselves questions: they intubate, they return, they treat, they go to another bed, to another room, they come back, they change, they wash ... It's a crazy thing. People have to notice this to pay even more attention to compliance with sanitary measures so as to clog hospitals as little as possible. This doc is both an awareness and a way to pay tribute to caregivers. Every evening, at 8 p.m., we are at our windows to applaud and support them, but are we really aware of what they do on a daily basis? There, we will show it and I think it will shake more than one.
Many and many caregivers say that the applause warms their hearts but they stress the importance of having more resources…
They are our heroes of the moment, there is no doubt about it. They are shared, I believe. We are not in their place, I am not a caregiver, but I guess they are embarrassed because they just feel like they are doing their job. That said, it is certain that the question of means is posed on the table now, but it will be above all afterwards. Now that we have seen the catastrophic situation in which we are, are we finally going to do what is necessary, put in the means, so that the French health system improves?
You were talking about the security measures respected by journalists, but since zero risk did not exist, they took the risk of exposing themselves to contamination. Were they aware of this?
Of course. More generally, this is the case for all those people who provide information continuously. Even if the teams are very small at the moment, there are some on the field. They are not in containment, so that means that they are more exposed than others to a risk of contamination. The question for journalists arises for a few seconds but the duty of information quickly takes over. We, in terms of production, we have drastic measures to respect. Tomorrow [Friday], I will be filming the launching stages of the program from my home with an iPhone and a microphone that I received from the editorial staff. I have a cleaning manual if only from the microphone that was sent to me, you can't even imagine the thing (she laughs)…
Will the filming continue to take stock of the health crisis once the epidemic is over?
At this stage no, it is not planned. But it can evolve. I prefer not to commit to answering this question. There, we shoot until Sunday, but for a possible post-epidemic point, we will have to discuss it again. One file is processed one after the other.
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Call for donations
During the broadcast of “Zone Interdite” M6 will offer the public the opportunity to respond to the call for donations in favor of the “All united against the virus” alliance, bringing together the Fondation de France, the Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Paris and the 'Pastor Institute. The donations will be used to provide equipment to increase reception capacity in hospitals, to deploy local services to support and help healthcare workers in their daily lives and to support the establishment of cells. psychological help for caregivers tested by their working conditions.
- Coronavirus
- Hospital
- Television
- Interview
- Mulhouse
- M6
- Restricted zone