A new New Year’s Eve that rhymes with contaminations. The Scientific Council is counting on hundreds of thousands of cases from January with the meteoric spread of the Omicron variant. Resuscitation services are already under strain across the country. In particular in Toulouse, at the University Hospital of Purpan, where ten of the sixteen intensive care beds are occupied by patients affected by the coronavirus. As the Omicron wave has only just begun, the caregivers are exhausted.
In this service, it is possible to find space, beds and equipment, but without caregivers, this is useless. “We ask them to work more overtime so we have really exhausted teams“Says Christelle Blasy-Rossoni, who fights to fill the schedules.” They are also angry with the unvaccinated people. The caregivers are professional, but this irritates them deeply, “she adds.
“When patients are told they have the coronavirus, this does not seem obviouse, they are surprised “, explains Édith Hourcastagnou, anesthetist-resuscitator, on the front line facing these unvaccinated.” For us, it’s a little exhausting to always tell the same story, to always give the same explanations and to not having the impression that people trust the medical word, ”she laments.
We don’t know what will happen in January.
Beatrice Riu-Poulenc
Christian, 70, intubated and infused with both wrists, is part of it repentants, nickname given to the unvaccinated who became aware of their bad choice. “Of course I said to myself I was at risk. I made the barrier gestures, I did everything, but if the others don’t do it, I can’t know it and that’s where I am. I’m done, “confides the man at the microphone of RTL. “When I get out of here, I’ll know when I’m going to be able to be vaccinated and I will be vaccinated. I recommend it to everyone because I have died,” he concludes.
Finding room in intensive care is a daily struggle. “We meet twice a day and we have a permanent view of the intensive care beds available not only in Greater Toulouse, but also in the region”, explains Béatrice Riu-Poulenc, head of the unit. “Without these management tools, I don’t think we would get by“, she admits.
“At one point, if we see two patients arriving at the same time and we only have one bed, it’s true that we can ask ourselves questions, but we don’t want to ask them for the moment “, continues Béatrice Riu-Poulenc who considers that she” is still lucky not to have to sort out “. However, “we don’t know what will happen in January with Omicron”. Everyone here is now convinced that The worse is yet to come for the second half of January.
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