Until now rather spared by the influx of Covid-19 patients, some hospitals in Limousin are starting to experience a certain congestion. This is the case in Brive, where Doctor Nicolas Pichon, Head of the Resuscitation department is sounding the alarm.
A level of Covid-19 patients never reached, including during the first wave last year
Invited this Friday morning from France Bleu Limousin, Nicolas Pichon recognized a certain tension “for a fortnight“, with a peak last weekend.”Since November, we had a moderate Covid-19 wave, with an average of 8 Covid-19 patients per day on 27 intensive care beds, and for two weeks it has risen to 10 patients, then 14, then a peak of 19 Covid-19 patients last weekend“. A level never reached, including last year during the first wave, where”the maximum number of Covid-19 patients in intensive care was 12“.
We went from 15 resuscitation beds to 27, without the staff increasing
Suddenly, the “healthcare staff resource is lacking“, continues the Head of department, with an equation that is indeed complicated to solve.”A resuscitation bed means a nurse for two to three patients, and a nursing assistant for three to four patients. However, there we went from 15 resuscitation beds, which is the normal state of the Brive hospital, to 27 resuscitation beds, without the staff having increased.“explains Doctor Pichon, who speaks frankly of a”staff shortage“. “For this week“, he said,”we asked the staff on vacation or rest to come back to work when they are already exhausted, and there we will find ourselves in a dead end “.
Soon a deprogramming of 20% of surgical activities?
The next step is a deprogramming of certain surgical activities, which would make it possible to repatriate personnel from the operating room and surgery to intensive care. “The less deprogramming, the better“says Doctor Pichon of course who estimates” _qu’_a 20% deprogramming of the surgical activity would make it possible to recover a sufficient number of para-medical personnel to help us“.
Finally asked about the lessons learned or not from the experience of last year, Dr Pichon considered that “creating resuscitation beds, structurally, it’s quite easy, you put a ventilator in a room and you say it’s a resuscitation bed. But _this is not a resuscitation bed_. A resuscitation bed, these are paramedical skills to operate the ventilators, to operate the dialysis, these are very specific care, and therefore we cannot create resuscitation beds without putting qualified personnel in them.“he concluded.
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