At the Toulouse University Hospital, 1000 nursing staff on the verge of war before the peak of Covid 19

With its 671 confirmed cases of contamination, 300 hospitalized patients and 30 deaths, as of March 22, according to the latest assessment from the Regional Health Agency, Occitania is still relatively unaffected by Covid 19.

On March 20, 30 people infected with the virus were hospitalized at the Toulouse University Hospital, including 5 in intensive care of infectious and tropical medicine and 8 in intensive care, of which 7 were intubated (on respirators), the youngest being 41 years old. “They all have asthma or respiratory pathologies, except an elderly person with no history,” says Béatrice Riu, doctor responsible for resuscitation and decontamination at Purpan. “The first sign that characterizes severe cases is a form of oxygen dependence. You have to keep them in the hospital because there is a potential for worsening in less than 24 hours, “she said. Until Friday, only one person had died of Coronavirus at the Toulouse University Hospital: an 84-year-old woman admitted to the infectious diseases department and carrying co-morbidities.

“It is difficult to say with certainty when the peak will take place in Toulouse, but there has been a fairly marked acceleration in recent days, especially since Thursday. The peak will be in April, and we hope to be able to clip it a bit, “said Professor Pierre Delobel, head of the infectious and tropical diseases department at the University Hospital on Friday. A feeling shared by Vincent Bounes, in charge of Samu 31: “For the past few days, activity has become tense with patients with heavier respiratory syndromes. Usually, in Samu, we send an average of 30 patients a day to the CHU, now this figure is multiplied by two or three ”.
400 beds and up to 350 respirators
To cope with the influx of patients, the Toulouse University Hospital has reserved 400 beds dedicated to the Covid 19, divided equally between the Purpan and Rangueuil sites. “We can expand their number to 740. Normally, we have 83 beds in intensive care. We can go up to 195, in the coming days, and go to 300 to 350 patients on ventilation, “promises Marc Penaud, director general of the CHU. A hundred additional resuscitation beds can be mobilized in the private sector, in the Toulouse basin. And as many respirators, if we are to believe the Health, Safety and Working Conditions Committee (CHSCT).

Professor Delobel is cautious about forecasts. “Currently we are able to absorb 600 patients, including 200 in intensive care, but if we went beyond 300 to 400 patients in intensive care, we could find ourselves saturated,” warns the Toulouse infectious disease specialist. If he sees it as a positive signal …