Washington (AFP)

Doctors or nurses, they have carried out tough missions in war zones or against the Ebola virus. Today, they say they are armed to face the new coronavirus at home in the United States, even if, sometimes, "it is more trying" than abroad.

After experiences in South Sudan, Haiti or Iraq, David Callaway, professor of emergency medicine, supervises the hospital response to Covid-19 near his home in Charlotte, in the south of the United States.

Obviously, the resources or the security conditions are better there than in these countries in crisis, but "sometimes it is easier abroad, where we can better compartmentalize" his emotions, he confides to the 'AFP.

There, it's possible "to put your loved ones in a box and use it as a source of motivation, inspiration in the event of a hard blow, because we know they are safe," explains he.

Here, "their lives are at stake," added the 46-year-old former military doctor, member of the NGO Team Rubicon, who is particularly worried about his mother in his seventies, but also about his wife and daughters.

For him, "it is more emotionally demanding to intervene in his community than abroad, even in the event of war or under the threat of bullets".

David Callaway judges, however, that his missions have made him "more effective" against the coronavirus. Among other things, "I know the truth changes every day: it helps not to be frustrated or stressed and to focus on your work."

- "Blood of an orange" -

"The talents I acquired in West Africa are crucial today," said New York emergency physician Craig Spencer, who was one of the few Americans infected with Ebola hemorrhagic fever during a mission. for Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in Guinea.

During his hospitalization in 2014 in the United States, an experienced nurse had failed on three occasions to take a blood test, he said during an online discussion organized by his NGO. "She was amazing, I'm sure she could have drawn blood from an orange, but she was too scared," he said.

For him, this anecdote shows that "no training is worth the field" to learn to "be comfortable in front of people affected by a potentially fatal disease".

Martha Phillips remembers another practical aspect of her experience with Ebola: "I can work for hours in a bulky protective suit!".

"I have also learned to make safety a priority," said the 40-year-old nurse, "and I don't compromise on that."

This has been essential since the start of the year. Specializing in emergencies, she faced the first cases of coronavirus in Washington State, in the northwest of the country, before joining the front recently for night guards in a New York hospital, epicenter of the American crisis .

- "Angry" -

Arriving a little after the peak in the megalopolis, she explains having seen fewer deaths than in Sierra Leone. But a different emotion embraces him this time: "anger".

"I thought the United States would react differently," she told AFP, saying that she had "better protective equipment in Africa" ​​where she worked for the NGO International Medical Corps than at the beginning of the crisis in his own country.

West African countries had "responded as best they could given their limited resources". Conversely, she believes, "America has infrastructure and technology but has chosen to put its head in the sand" for too long.

Whatever their moods, these caregivers all say they are focused on their task. "We think it's our mission to help sick people," said David Callaway.

"This global disaster is horrible, but it gives me energy," said Craig Spencer, who is on long call until late in the evening and lives with a 17-month-old daughter.

As for Martha Phillips, once the United States gets better, she is ready to "leave for Africa in an instant" if the need arises.

© 2020 AFP