Valbonne (France) (AFP)
Trained to rescue soldiers under fire, Corporal Céline, from the Army Medical Regiment (RMed), put her skills to work for an unusual mission during the health crisis, far from the sands of the Sahel: participating in France for the care of civilians suffering from Covid-19.
"We're going to bring you back, hang on my boy, I'm going to give you an injection!": At La Valbonne military camp (Ain), combat rescue training has resumed for the young health assistant, busy practicing life-saving gestures on a mannequin lying in the grass, after a simulated ambush.
"We were employed in the dressing and undressing of the nursing staff, and sometimes we could go into the bays with the patients, to help a little", says this 23-year-old soldier, broad smile under the mask, confiding his " enormous pride to have participated "in this adventure," closer to the population ".
At the wheel of her logistics transport vehicle, 1st class soldier Julie was assigned to "a mission that could not be seen": to go back and forth to supply the structure. "I worked at the whistle, when the pharmacists lacked equipment".
At the peak of the pandemic, the RMed, which deploys 400 soldiers each year in external operations in support of the military health service, was mobilized in all directions to help the French. A commitment in the urgency which is worth to him to participate this year in Paris the ceremony of July 14th.
- Reinforcement at SAMU -
Master Corporal Laurent was sent to reinforce the Paris Fire Brigade.
"We came to replace firefighters infected with the Covid," he said. "The pace was strong, we had a lot of sleepless nights. We put on the suit while the truck burned the red lights. We were the first to make gestures on the sick."
"During an intervention, we had our heads in the handlebars and suddenly people started to applaud: it was 8 pm. I took it for myself, it made my heart warm", underlines the thirty-something , veteran of Chad and Mali.
A neighbor of RMed in La Valbonne, the 68th artillery regiment of Africa also contributed to Operation "Resilience" launched in March by Emmanuel Macron, in which 3,000 soldiers from the French Army participated.
Instead of ammunition, the gunners transported millions of masks to hospitals, nursing homes, administrations and businesses in the region. "When we arrived at night, the boss of Michelin paid us for pizzas!" Remembers Marshal Kevin, 26.
Others have been deployed to protect stocks in health facilities. Some, finally, provided reinforcement to the local SAMU, a first for French soldiers.
"The SAMU was overwhelmed, in permanent tension. We came to relieve them in the regulation of telephone calls," said Warrant Officer Guillaume, head of the first aid unit in his regiment.
"At the beginning, there were questions from the staff, after they quickly understood that we were there to offer mutual assistance. The atmosphere was extraordinary", despite the incessant flood of calls, he assures he. "It was really concrete help to the population and to the hospital environment, with immediately visible results."
"The soldiers felt useful," said the corps commander of the 68th regiment, Colonel David Pawlowski. "We had to be imaginative to best serve the needs expressed locally", but "as artillerymen, support from the front line is what we know how to do!"
© 2020 AFP