Through Murielle Bouchard
Published on
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In March 2020, the 80 volunteers of the Estuary First Aid Association (ADPSE) at the Havre (Seine Maritime) are ” on a war footing “, as Stéphane Mandeville, the vice-president, likes to say. Who are these Rescuers of the shadow that since the beginning of the pandemic from Covid-19 constantly intervene to support caregivers, transport the sick, distribute masks or even today participate in the screening campaign? Meeting at the François-Ier room, where, since January 7, 2022, they have tested an average of 300 people per day.
“Organize to deal with the unexpected”
The Normandy Regional Health Agency is their main contact. And Stéphane Mandeville, vice-president of the ADPSE in Le Havre, admits: if their mission as rescuers has always involved a large part of the unknown, since March 2020, it is on a daily basis that he expects to receive a new mission.
“We are three with Pascal and Florian to ensure all that is organization and it is not easy. Because you have to have the number of people available accordingly and, as we have seen since the start of the pandemic, things are changing quickly, protocols too and needs accordingly. However, the association’s 80 rescuers are on average 30 years old, “they are therefore mainly working people or students who give in their free time”. Planning cannot be lacking, especially since the sector of intervention, even if concentrated on Seine-Maritime for the most part, was temporarily able to be extended to Ile-de-France and even Strasbourg.
There were needs to transport the sick, we always managed to meet them. I think a lot of that is because we’re like family here,
In the bath, very quickly
If the elders of the group make it a point of honor to “slow down the youngest because we consider it important that they do not jeopardize their studies”, others simply do not count their hours .
This is the case with Thomas. Looking for a job, sampler today at the François-Ier room, he explains: “I started my training a month before the first confinement. My first mission was to support caregivers in nursing homes. “In the bath, very quickly, Thomas will be confronted with his” first deaths, elderly people who had been contaminated. It was very difficult but the group is united and we all support each other in these cases. »
300 tests per day, 45% positive Wednesday 12
Since Friday January 7, 2022, the ADPSE has been carrying out the temporary screening campaign at the François-Ier room from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday included. “We organize ourselves so that there is little waiting, here it takes on average 25 minutes between your entry into the room and your exit. You are told if you are positive or not and you then receive the test result on your phone, ”explains the vice-president of the association.
300 antigenic tests take place on average every day, “we also receive at lunchtime. There is no advice to give about the times to come, here it is very fluid, so do not hesitate. »
On Wednesday January 12, 45% of the tests carried out were positive.
Since the start of the pandemic, rescue workers have also carried out 30,000 PCR tests and 5,000 saliva tests.
The temporary screening center will be open for the moment until January 29 inclusive.
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Reassure and put the human
Rescuers must “adapt to the environment in which we are called upon to intervene”. Prisons, schools, areas for travellers, homes for people with disabilities: as many places as different audiences.
During the vaccination campaign, it was necessary to reassure and support people who felt lost in the Océane stadium. In front of children in schools, to bring them to the saliva test, we used a lot of fun. There are people who are also impressed by our blouses, charlottes, masks… We have to put some human element back into all of this, while making sure to do the work in a very methodical way.
Benevolence as a source of motivation
Lucie, David and Coline are between 18 and 22 years old. Their commitment was not affected even though they too were faced with the consequences of the pandemic. “Two rescuers from the association were hospitalized because they had contracted Covid, in the course of their work. »
But the motivation is intact: “People are very kind to us,” explains Coline. So intact, moreover, that the student at Ifsi in Le Havre and volunteer Lorenzo, aged 19, recently convinced his father to join the association. “I am 51 years old and I am a delivery driver. Listening to my son tell what he was going through, I told myself that I too could make myself useful and I started the training. »
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