It didn't take Leo more than thirty seconds to give his answer. Voluntary? Obviously! This 28-year-old nurse, including three in the emergency department of the Bordeaux University Hospital (Gironde), was part of one of the Covid-19 patient convoys from Alsace, whose services are on the brink of saturation, until in New Aquitaine, currently less affected by the coronavirus epidemic.
If a new medical train arrived this Friday evening, with 24 patients on board, it was taken on board that of the previous weekend. "It is very special as a repatriation, a major operation with people in serious condition," he explains.
From Bordeaux, his TGV left on Saturday morning. "Our team had eight patients to pick up, so we prepared eight shell mattresses, inflatable and very hard for transport, eight respirators, eight scopes (Editor's note: a surveillance monitor) ..." details the young man. Suffice to say that the ERs did not travel light to Nancy.
“On site, we were greeted by the firefighters who were in column and had taken out the large ladder. We understood that we were experiencing something quite unique. The next day, we have to go the opposite way with the intubated and ventilated patients on board the train. The SNCF cars at the bottom have been transformed into real resuscitation units. The floors, in immense reserves of medical material.
"A bonus ? I don't know, I didn't ask ”
"An incredible teamwork has been set up, especially with the Red Cross," says Léo. We had to be vigilant about the stability of the patients, the oxygen they needed, the proper functioning of the machines… It was tiring, we were very thirsty, but everyone was at his post. "
Seven hours later, the sick are safe to reach the hospitals that will take care of them. "If I had to do it again, I wouldn't hesitate a second," says Leo. When we ask him if he will have a bonus, his eyes widen: “I don't know anything about it, I didn't ask. I did my job, that's all. "
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VIDEO. Medicalized TGV: 20 patients evacuated from the Grand-Est to the Pays-de-la-Loire
