In the corridors of the intensive care unit of the CHU de Nancy, Dr Bérangère Denys’ phone has been ringing non-stop for several days. “It is I who have the on-call telephone, I receive all calls for potential entries. Within two hours, I had at least six calls “, she indicates.
There are nearly 2,461 Covid-19 patients currently in intensive care in France, it is 35 more in 24 hours. The fifth wave is felt very strongly in the hospital where it has already passed the fourth this summer. Direct consequence: everywhere, people are starting to push the walls of intensive care units.
The twelve intensive care beds are occupied, practically only by Covid patients, confirms the head of the service, Prof. Sébastien Gibot. And as soon as a place becomes available, it is immediately taken: “We are just in time, we take patients out only to pick up others. Places are pre-reserved even before they are vacated.“
It will certainly soon be necessary to open additional beds: faced with the influx of patients, reinforcements of caregivers from other departments of the hospital are expected, but Samira Bouadjaj, health executive, also expects to have to call back staff from the intensive care unit during their Christmas holidays. If most regions have triggered the white plan, which makes it possible to requisition personnel, doctors and nurses are very likely at this pace to have to put aside their Christmas holidays.
“We plan to recall them during this period because we feel that at that time, it will be a very significant increase. We prepare the teams psychologically for this eventuality“, she breathes, slipping however preferring the soft method: volunteering.
“I have already started to make my little list of staff who would volunteer to come back on their vacation, admits the health executive. I know that they will come back, that they will take it upon themselves because it is a profession where we think of patients first. “”But they do not come out of cheerfulness, really not: they are tired, tired, they really do not want to go back “, admits the health executive. She herself is also ready to give up her three days of vacation.
Bérangère Denys bitterly notes that 70% of patients in the department are not vaccinated. “It necessarily makes us more work”, she slips.
“We’ve been moping about this for over two years.”
Berangere Denysto franceinfo
“But there indeed, sighs Bérangère Denys, If the epidemic accelerates, that we can no longer take vacations, that we are forced to double the guards, to work more and that we no longer know where to put the patients, that puts us in great difficulty. We can only encourage vaccination “. Despite everything, if it is necessary to come and help at Christmas, she will also cancel her holidays.