Paris (AFP)
Practitioner in a hospital in the Paris region, on the front line to treat the surge of coronavirus patients, an anesthesiologist-resuscitator delivers daily for AFP, on condition of anonymity, the summary of his day in the middle of a health crisis.
- Friday April 10 -
It's been over a month since all of the faces have changed.
The hospital is now metamorphosed, physically and in its organization. Men have swapped their beards for well shaved skin, so that the masks are best applied to the face, it is said. All the faces are unrecognizable, between the masks and the lines of fatigue.
Surgeons are given new responsibilities: regulation of the Samu crisis unit, improvement of the link with families through the various smartphone applications available, assistance in mobilizing patients ...
The faces of patients are also changing. Putting on the stomach frequently changes the appearance of the face, temporarily.
The faces of families no longer exist, for the moment.
Returning after 24 hours of rest outside the hospital, after more than a month of almost constant presence in the hospital, including weekends, was violent. We quickly forget what is happening there.
The words of my department head this morning were both reassuring and still unsettling. The lull is confirmed but the plateau could last a long time, hoping that there will be no second wave.
Fortunately, some patients improve and come out of intensive care. It must be kept in mind, it is essential.
I think it's time for the masks to fall. That we find a more usual activity. Let the patients find their families. Let the surgeons find their way back to the operating room.
Let the specialists return to treat those who are waiting for them. That general practitioners can resume monitoring their patients. May paramedical teams, more admirable than ever, find less sustained activity.
Let things go back to normal ...
© 2020 AFP