Besancon. At the hospital, the children drive in an electric cart to the operating room

Is it a joke, these six electric cars in the pediatric surgery department? And this winding and laughing road that crosses the corridors of 2^e floor at -1? Not at all, affirms with conviction Professor Benoît de Billy, head of the pediatric surgery department at the CHU of Besançon.

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Video. Some explanations.

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“The child is no longer in a hospital, he is in a playroom”

Explanations: “These cars are part of a more complex approach to securing children. Between the ages of 2 and 7, the prospect of an operation causes real stress, just the building and its long corridors crush the child. In consultation already, we use Playmobil, to figure out the stages of care, to explain to the children what is going to happen. These small cars are the second stage. The child, rather than being transported on a stretcher or in a wheelchair, takes the wheel, follows the course on the ground, descends the floors and arrives as far as the operating theatre. He is no longer in a hospital, he is in a playroom, an environment he recognizes. Immediately, the stress drops,” explains the professor. “Therefore, fewer products are needed to put him to sleep and to wake him up. We also note that the stress of the parents also decreases, therefore, consequently, that of the nursing team”.

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Better than a merry-go-round

Élise, 6 and a half years old, must illustrate the point. Faced with the large numbers of adults who have come to inaugurate the carts, the little girl hesitates. She chooses a white Land Rover, buckles her seatbelt and drives off cautiously. On the ground, the turns are tight, for fun, to force concentration, for aesthetics. The little girl seems to forget this very present audience quite quickly. She plays with the horn, the radio, lends herself to U-turns. In total, three floors and 300 m to go before arriving at the car park in front of the block. Élise avoids the slot, gently parks the car. Look for his mom. Lends itself to the photo game. The stress fell: it was better than a merry-go-round. CQFD

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The Chopard Foundation, committed to supporting projects of solidarity mobility, professional integration, environmental protection and others related to education, financed part of the project. The Conputacenter company, another party. The fleet of the pediatric surgery department therefore amounts to six carts. The patient transport services and the outpatient pediatric surgery service ensure the operation of the novelty.

If the children are able to drive to the block, on the other hand, the beds on casters are essential to go from the recovery room to the bedroom… But there, for them, the stress has disappeared. And Benoît de Billy still has a few desires to help them, he knows that animals also have an exceptional power vis-à-vis children, and will surely find the art, the way, the authorizations and the financing to bring them into the long corridors of the hospital.

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