At the end of the line, we feel the emotion, very strong. ” Jean-Marie was a humanist doctor, devoted body and soul to his patients. I have worked with him for over 35 years. He was my traveling companion. And my friend ” Doctor Georges-Fabrice Blum works at the Diaconat clinic in Mulhouse where Jean-Marie Boegle, a 66-year-old obstetrician-gynecologist, died Sunday, March 22, at Dijon CHU due to coronavirus.
→ LIVE. Coronavirus: WHO calls for testing of all suspected cases
The day before, a 60-year-old Moselle general practitioner had died at Saint-Avold hospital while, that same Saturday, a 67-year-old emergency physician died in Compiègne. Two other deaths were announced Monday at the end of the day. This, on that date, brought to five the number of doctors who have died since the start of the epidemic in France.
“It’s hard but I’m going to fight because I love life.”
In Mulhouse, colleagues say it is likely that Dr. Boegle contracted the virus during a consultation at his office. “ He had indeed stopped giving birth on 1er January 2020, explains doctor Blum, specifying that his colleague and friend had gone to rest on Thursday March 12 in his country house in Burgundy. “The next day, he was admitted to Beaune hospital before being transferred to the Dijon teaching hospital. That’s where I got him on the phone on March 14. He had a strong dyspnea (Editor’s note: respiratory discomfort) but he said to me: “It’s hard but I’m going to fight because I love life”. An hour later, at 2 p.m., he was intubated. And so he died eight days later “, says Doctor Blum.
→ CAREER’S WORD. Coronavirus: “We don’t take over 80s anymore”
Monday, March 23, it was with the same emotion that L’Hôpital, a town of 5,000 inhabitants in the Moselle, learned of the death of Sylvain Welling, 65, who died on Saturday March 21 at Saint-Avold hospital. “He was one of our three generalists and he was a figure in the commune. Everyone is in shock here, “ testifies Henri Siegenfuhr, director general of the city services.
“He was really the family doctor as you would imagine, constantly on deck. It started early and ended late ”, testifies doctor Jean Schuler, 73 years old, his former partner. “I was the one who brought him over 25 years ago to the town where his grandparents were from,” continues this doctor who, as of this morning, called the other general practitioners of the sector to see if they could take care of the patients of doctor Welling. “And if necessary, despite my 73 years, I will lend a hand”, assures Jean Schuller.
“A fairly legitimate fear”
This Monday, Philippe Marini, the mayor (LR) of Compiègne and members of the hospital staff, spaced from each other, observed a minute of silence shortly before noon on the esplanade of the establishment where he had come in. reinforces doctor Jean-Jacques Razafindranazy, 67, emergency doctor who died Saturday at the Lille CHRU. On Facebook, one of his sons paid tribute to him. “My father, this hero, a Compiègne emergency doctor, left too quickly because of the coronavirus. Passionate about his work, he did not retire (…) He was coming back from vacation from Madagascar, in great shape, but the Covid-19 was stronger ”, writes the son of the very first doctor who died of coronavirus in France.
Even though they knew it would end up happening, many doctors recognize that these deaths are a new and difficult psychological step. ” We had put on the hero’s outfit and there we’re, with the teams, having a strong burnout and a fairly legitimate fear. Of course, doctors and caregivers dare not openly say that they are afraid but it shows in the relationships between us which are sometimes a little more tense “Explains Professor Frédéric Adnet, head of the emergency department at the Avicenne hospital in Bobigny.
“We know that there are several general practitioners currently in intensive care”
In Mayenne, a department hitherto rather spared from the epidemic, tension has increased by a notch this weekend among doctors. “This virus is scary, even if we are now well prepared. Since this morning, in the department, all Covid patients can come and consult in one of the eight specially dedicated medical centers. In each of them there is a general practitioner with a mask and an operating room uniform loaned by our hospital colleagues “Explains doctor Luc Duquesnel, general practitioner and president of the Unof union.
“We have taken all these measures from the lessons of our colleagues from the Grand Est, the Oise and Corsica. And we think strongly of them, who took the wave of full force and, through their experience, allowed doctors in other regions of France to better protect themselves ”, continues Dr. Duquesnel, who says he fears more deaths in the coming days. “We know that there are several general practitioners currently in intensive care. “
In the East, in Colmar, Doctor Pascale Fiat recognizes that the atmosphere is ” heavy Psychologically. “But I continue to receive my patients without being in psychosis. Fortunately, I have a lot of FFP2 masks that I had kept from the H1N1 flu from 2009 “, says this general practitioner who, at the heart of the epidemic, wants to stand up. Like these Italian doctors, eighteen of whom have died to date from Covid-19.
– .
