At the heart of the Covid-19 unit of the intensive care unit at CHU Pellegrin

• Since Monday, CHU Pellegrin in Bordeaux has been treating five serious cases of coronavirus.
• These patients whose vital prognosis is engaged, are placed in an artificial coma and under respiratory assistance, the time of their treatment.
• The CHU has released 300 beds all armed with resuscitators to cope.

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This Tuesday, a fifth serious case of coronavirus was admitted to the intensive care unit of the
CHU of Bordeaux. A fifth in … two days. “New Aquitaine was still preserved by the
Covid-19, but we can see the wave coming since the beginning of the week, since four serious patients arrived suddenly, said Dr. Benjamin Clouzeau, anesthesiologist-resuscitator. We feel this acceleration, that’s why we are delighted that the
containment measures have been taken. “

The resuscitation unit usually receives patients with respiratory problems, which is the case of severe cases of Covid-19, considered as acute respiratory failure. It is now the referent unit for the care of these patients in New Aquitaine.

It is this unity that the CHU de Bordeaux wanted to show this Tuesday, in an “exceptional” way, to lift the veil “on what this disease really is. “

“Resuscitation is particularly heavy”

Placed on the stomach most of the time, the patients are turned over twice a day. Immersed in an artificial coma, they are on respiratory assistance to allow them to be oxygenated. “They are even curarized: it is a drug that paralyzes all their muscular activity, because they receive specific treatments against the virus, antibiotic treatments because there are often co-infections, explains Dr. Benjamin Clouzeau. This is what makes this resuscitation particularly heavy. “For each of them, the vital prognosis is engaged.

A minimum of four nursing staff are required to return the patient. They must carefully equip themselves with specific glasses and masks before entering the room. “We isolate and group patients in dedicated units in the department, so that our staff can work in necessary safety conditions. “

These are support for several weeks of resuscitation. “Our Parisian colleagues who have completed their first services have so far had almost none of their patients discharged after two or three weeks of work. This is why they accumulate in services. “

All resuscitation patients had taken inflammatory drugs

In Bordeaux, it is confirmed that the serious cases of Covid-19 do not affect only the elderly: the first four patients admitted are all young, one even being only 26 years old. “We have a different population from that described by our Chinese colleagues,” confirms Dr. Benjamin Clouzeau. But they all have the same profile, and I emphasize this: they all took anti-inflammatory drugs, to treat the symptoms of feverishness. This is what must be banished. “

Initial feedback from other hospitals has shown that “the disease is progressing rapidly. These patients have indeed passed “in a few hours” from a good state to a strong deterioration. This is why resuscitation works in concert with the stage of infectious diseases of Pr Denis Malvy, where the least serious patients are received, “so that they alert us early in the face of the rise in oxygen needs, so that we can admit these patients, and not miss the worsening. “

The Bordeaux University Hospital has more than 300 intensive care beds, “which should allow us to see the wave coming, especially if it is more progressive than what the Italians have experienced. And each bed can be “armed” with resuscitator.

An advanced medical post dedicated solely to the coronavirus

Head of the anesthesia-resuscitation unit, Professor Matthieu Biais confirms the “brutality” of the worsening of the disease. But he also notes that it stabilizes with symptomatic treatment. “It is a stable condition for at least three weeks, and once this phase is over, we can hope to extubate the patients and provide immediate care. “

For the head of service, there is no doubt that the service is “ready to receive critical patients in intensive care, in large numbers. But the whole CHU has been on the warpath for several weeks now.

“Since February 25, we have set up an outpatient screening unit at the CHU,” explains Yann Bubien, director general of the hospital. Center 15 has been reinforced. All non-emergency surgical procedures have been postponed. And yesterday we set up a structure upstream of emergencies, an advanced medical post, to be able to welcome any patient who could be infected with coronavirus, so as to have an identified, specific path, and to avoid mixing patients within the emergency . “

Establishment of an advanced medical post upstream of the Emergency @CHUBordeaux to welcome patients #coronavirus #COVID ー 19 : a dedicated sector to ensure everyone’s safety pic.twitter.com/nlO67UPE2D

– Yann Bubien (@yannbubien) March 17, 2020

The heads of department of the CHU all recognize their “luck” not to have suffered in New Aquitaine “the same wave as in other regions. “And hope that this time in advance will have allowed us to prepare effectively.

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