With 13 out of 18 beds occupied by Covid patients, 87% of whom are unvaccinated, the intensive care unit at Delafontaine hospital is operating at just-in-time, even if the pressure has been easing a little “for a few days”.
For the nursing staff, the main concern is no longer, at the end of the 5th wave, the question of the reception of a high number of patients.
“We are grounded”, slips a caregiver in the hallway of resuscitation unit 3.
The real challenge of this new wave is “planning management”, says Daniel Da Silva, the head of the department.
“We have to make sure every day that we will be able to operate with an agent at each position,” he breathes.
Read alsoVIDEO.
“The nurses are exhausted”: for lack of caregivers, the pediatric emergencies of Saint-Denis are closing
This unit is not spared by the Omicron surge: "We are each in turn on sick leave", confides a nurse.
Of the 110 caregivers in the service, around ten are currently on sick leave and four beds opened as reinforcements had to close the previous week due to lack of staff.
Consequence for the rest of the staff already washed out by two years of health crisis: the use of overtime increases and vacations are cut short.
Video immersion in this intensive care unit with “exhausted” but “united” caregivers.
