Yasmina Kattou 8:55 p.m., January 04, 2022
Across France, caregivers are preparing to face a peak in the occupation of their services due to the wave of the Omicron variant of Covid-19.
But many services will not be able to accommodate the influx of patients, due to a lack of available staff.
Because of the contact cases, some hospitals even fear a total disorganization.
With the progression of the Omicron wave of Covid-19, the pressure on hospitals is increasing day by day. In intensive care units, a long-distance race is expected and caregivers are therefore preparing to hold out over time. "We expect to live through difficult weeks, especially until March", explains Julien Carvelli, doctor in the intensive care unit of the Timone in Marseille. The doctor fears the worst when the Omicron variant represents only 20% of the contaminations in the Marseille city. "There, we are experiencing the continuity of the Delta wave. The fear we have is that serious Omicron cases will be added to it. It will be very complicated to manage in the coming weeks. . "
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Many caregivers departing
This concern is shared by Antoine Pons in Strasbourg.
In his department, the resuscitator anesthesiologist can no longer open beds for lack of personnel.
"There is no longer anyone to call back. We are at the bone. The staff can be found in other departments by deprogramming patients."
In Île-de-France, where the Omicron variant is the majority, the main risk is a disorganization of services with contaminated caregivers.
"I wonder what the impact of the epidemic will be in terms of sick leave," explains Mehran Monchi, head of the intensive care unit at Melun hospital.
"The slightest additional sick leave can lead to a very complicated situation for us to manage."
The workload will be distributed among those who remain.
Consequence: many exhausted caregivers will leave the hospital.
A phenomenon that Dr. Monchi notices, powerless, after each new wave.