That day, in the Emergency Department of Pasteur 2 in Nice, Brigitte investigates the antigenic tests in the reception area. Swab, apprehension. Continuous ball of white coats and stretchers. Masks and worried patients. She has a firm and gentle gesture at the same time. She speaks, explains, reassures.
Takes vital signs, blood pressure, oxygen saturation, and transmits the information to his colleagues.
Last January, when the first cases of coronavirus were reported in France, she had just retired after ending her career in a chemotherapy and palliative care center in the Paris region. Brigitte immediately understood that “we were facing a disease that we have never known and that the epidemic was going to last”.
“It gives meaning to my retirement”
So at 64, she put on her blouse and resumed service. “ Impossible to remain a spectator, I could not remain with folded arms. I am viscerally a nurse “, she smiles softly behind her mask.
It joined the health reserve – a community of volunteer health professionals (doctors, nurses, radio operators, nursing assistants, etc.) led by Public Health France that the State can mobilize in the event of exceptional needs. First alert in March: he was called in for reinforcement in the Loir-et-Cher. “Since then, I have never stopped.” Since then, she has been carrying out missions to the four corners of France, to the bedside of territories with overflowing hospitals.
She laughs : “My husband is a bit lonely at home but I am thriving. It gives meaning to my retirement. “ Like Brigitte, several volunteers from all over France joined the ranks of caregivers in Nice and Antibes this month.
“Tired but not worn out”
“There is a lot of work. The day before yesterday, it was a flood of patients of all ages. My colleagues are happy that I am here. I feel that I am relieving them a little and it makes me feel good. CHU de Nice are wonderful: they are tired but not worn out or desperate. They fight every day. “. A battle that has lasted for over a year …
“When are we going to get out of this?”, Brigitte suddenly asks, almost like a question to herself. A veil passes in his clear gaze: “You don’t get used to suffering and death”.
To make life triumph, she acts: “After that, I’ll go home a bit to take care of my parents who are elderly and at the next alarm, I’m leaving…”
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