Tuesday, November 23 marked the last departure of a Breton volunteer for Guyana. She joined the State Graduate Nurses, nursing assistants, general practitioners, anesthetists, resuscitators, executives … who have followed one another twelve times, for more than three months, to provide assistance to their colleagues from overseas. A very sustained pace, at the rate of one or two departures per week, which was subsequently reduced to one departure every two weeks.
If the Health Crisis Center manages the list of departing volunteers at the national level, the ARS is in charge of organizing this solidarity in the region: “We liaise with the establishments to find out about volunteer professionals and, if necessary, call for spontaneous applications. Once these applications have been validated at the national level, we contact them individually, in order to send them the necessary instructions. All this goes very quickly. On average, they are only notified 48 hours before their departure and only know the destination (Guadeloupe, Guyana, Martinique, New Caledonia or Polynesia) the day before. “ explains Sophie Lamour, in charge of setting up this exceptional system at ARS Bretagne.
The ARS thus coordinates and supports professionals throughout their engagement, by preparing their mission orders, monitoring financial support, setting up psychological monitoring, etc. “If the coordination with the multiple actors was initially complex, we gradually entered into a routine. It is also very interesting to work with volunteer professionals, who understand that we are in an emergency situation. “ continues Sophie Lamour.
Today, the situation in the Overseas Territories having relatively stabilized, almost all of the professionals who came as reinforcements have returned to France.
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