On the evening of November 13, 2015, he was the first white coat to enter the hell of the Bataclan. Chief physician of the BRI, the Research and Intervention Brigade, Denis Safran was ordered to take care of the victims in the pit, where he piloted the evacuation of the wounded, instead of staying with his column . He testifies Thursday, October 28 at the bar, after the long sequence of hearing the civil parties.
Denis Safran, 73, receives in “his den”, as he says, at the police headquarters, just in front of the court where the trial of the attacks of November 13, 2015 is being held every day. Rescuers are stranded outside the security perimeter, he faces horror. At the time of his intervention, he had a great deal of experience for him, as a former head of the anesthesia-resuscitation department at the Georges Pompidou European hospital, in Paris, and a stint with the firefighters. Six years later, Denis Safran prefers to stay away from the trial. The only exception Thursday, October 28, where he was called to testify.
franceinfo: When you arrive at Bataclan with the BRI assault column around 10:30 p.m. [l’attaque des terroristes a démarré à 21h48] What state of mind are you in, and what do you do when you enter?
Denis Safran: When I arrive, I find a situation extremely worrying, I would even say a situation of horror. There are already victims on the sidewalk. Everything is topsy-turvy. There is broken glass everywhere and when I enter with my column in the reception hall of the Bataclan, I see dead victims and very seriously injured victims, and a fortiori when we open the doors that lead to the pit.
“I see what you might call a tangle of bodies and everyone prone in the pit.”
Denis Safranto franceinfo
I immediately realize that we are in a terrible situation, especially in the medical field, and that we will have to act quickly. So indeed, I leave the assault column.
Once inside the Bataclan, how do you work? Do you treat people directly?
When we arrive, we don’t know how many terrorists there are. We do not know if there are not terrorists hidden among the victims. And it is also not known whether or not the building was trapped. We know there is a risk of explosion at any time. So the objective is a situation well known to the military, it is to evacuate as many people as possible as quickly as possible. When the order was given to them, to go out by the head of the column, I saw a very large number of people pouring in, the first able-bodied walking and even running for some, and then others carried by their friends, their comrades who were with them because they had difficulty moving. And then, finally, very wounded people who were dragged by others. Faced with this influx, I had a lot, a lot of work.
The material you used the most that night, were scissors?
Yes, these are my scissors called tactical scissors capable of cutting thick layers of fabric. Obviously, when I see an injured person arriving, the first thing is to see. You have to do a very quick assessment and that requires a lot of medical experience. See in a few seconds after cutting the t-shirt, or even the pants, the severity of the injury, and know if it can wait or if the injured must be removed as a priority.
During the trial, many civil parties complained that help arrived so late. How do you explain to them that it couldn’t be faster, that you did what you could?
In this place that we call the red zone, that is to say the war zone, the zone where it can fire again, where it can explode, if you bring in help en masse and the building explodes, collapses, or there is a Kalashnikov fire of dozens of cartridges at the same time, you risk decimating the emergency services. You can imagine that this is not possible. So, help is brought in when the area is more or less safe. And besides, when we brought in the emergency services, the area was not completely secure. Admittedly, the assault had taken place, but nothing showed that there were no other terrorists in the room and nothing showed that the building was not trapped. And nonetheless, we brought in the helpers who took a considerable risk.
Did you say we could have done better?
We can always do better. But you know, redoing the story from your desk without going back into the context … A lot of people don’t have a very precise idea of the context, we can understand it.
“In this context, I consider that the support was as fast as possible.”
Denis Safranto franceinfo
It should be understood that the objective of the doctors as help in this situation is to take care of the victims. Moreover, when I say that I no longer have a very precise memory of what I did that evening, it is because all my attention was directed towards taking care of the injured. Injured physically or even psychologically because the people who came out were in a state of absolute panic. Nothing matters anymore. The environment no longer matters. It is the injured person, the victim, the patient first.
How do you do when you see such horrors?
You know, everyone reacts on their own. The next day [des attentats], we never considered that it was all over. There could still be terrorists in Paris. The BRI has done a lot of searches. There was the information center for victims, which was at the military school where the chief of staff of the prefect of police asked me very early to come and report to him on what was happening. was going there. So, I have been very busy and now was not the time to have moods.
Have you prepared your testimony before the Special Assize Court?
I was a legal expert for 20 years, so I took the stand a lot. I imagine that I will be asked specific questions. I will answer specifically when I can answer. The questions for which I have no answers, I will not make them up. I will be absolutely factual. I will say what I saw, I will say what I did. I will say what I couldn’t do, what I wish I could have done and I will leave it there. So I am not preparing precisely. In any case, in my head, I am not remaking history.
Are you apprehensive about the expectations of the civil parties who have just testified for five weeks?
I have no real apprehension. I know the civil parties have high expectations. Once again, I am a doctor. I must inform clearly, honestly, without lying, without inventing.