The dead angles of the pandemic

Photo: Adil Boukind The Duty
Frédéric Abergel, p.-d. g. of the CIUSSS of the North-of-the-Island-of-Montreal, says that he and his
colleagues have been caught short by the virus.

The COVID-19 has fooled the institutions of health, who expected to face a virus similar to H1N1, tells the story of the p.-d. g. a CIUSSS of Montreal. Patients asymptomatic, absent staff, old facilities, many are the blind who have come to take short managers.

“Our preparation is based on the experience of the crisis of H1N1, explains Frédéric Abergel. Ten years ago, we had people quickly sick, who had needed hospital care. We all said that it was going to be a bit like that, so we prepared as if it was it was going to happen. “

The second year of Mr. Abergel at the head of the CIUSSS of the North-of-the-Island-of-Montreal falls battery the day where the COVID-19 has reached the rank of a pandemic, there are three months. A few steps from the CHSLD Notre-Dame-de-la-Merci, which not only houses his office, but that was also the institution where the first case of COVID-19 has been reported on its territory, The Duty has been meet.

The situation has stabilised in recent weeks. There are now more people who have been cured of the COVID-19 that of deceased persons. In total, 980 residents have been infected since the beginning of the pandemic, 345 have died, and 512 are recovered. It still has 123 active cases.

“In all honesty, after the déconfinement at Montreal, on 25 may, I had done the tour of a few parks, and I must confess to you that I had a blue fear. It was full of people without a mask, everyone stuck. It could not be a family of 300 people, ” he says. I told myself that it was a disaster, in mid-June, we would certainly have the second wave, but for now, the numbers don’t show it, so much the better. “

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The p.-d. g. admits to having been taken aback by the invisible enemy last march. “As early as February, we prepared for intensive care equipped hospitals ready. We introduced the concept of hot zone and cold zone, because it is said that monsieur and madame Tout-le-Monde would need these facilities, ” says Mr Abergel.

However, today, he said, you know that it were the accommodation centres, who were more at risk. “We also prepared, but not with the same intensity,” he says. For decades, our accommodation centres are considered as life environments. They are supposed to be like home, then it was not obvious to consider the transform in small hospitals, ” he continued.

The CHSLD Notre-Dame-de-la-Merci has rapidly become one of the first outbreaks of the outbreak of the metropolis. The dilapidated state of the building as well as the development of the premises continued to pose significant challenges to isolate the residents infected. “There are shelters where the only place available to establish a hot zone, this is the cafeteria “, says the p.-d. g. The best configurations you can install a maximum of fifteen beds, an insufficient number when an outbreak broke out. “In Notre-Dame-de-la-Merci, where it hosts 350 people, we had the one day to the next 10 people infected. The cafeteria was so overwhelmed of a sudden “, he says.

While a second wave is not excluded, as of this summer, Mr. Abergel is estimated that the worst-case scenario of the month of April may be avoided. “We have reviewed our ways of doing things in accommodation centres, to the point that we decided to consider it now as a hospital,” emphasizes the one who manages 11 accommodation centres, 5 hospitals and 6 health care provider.

Data

As of Wednesday, the province has registered 52 new deaths related to the COVID-19, of which 25 occurred in the past 24 hours. The death toll climbs, therefore, 5081. Approximately 156 new cases of contamination have also been identified, for a total of 53 341. Hospitalizations, on the other hand, continue to decline, with 914 people, a drop of 47 from the previous day. Among them, 117 are in the intensive care.

Invisible enemy

If the virus has outsmarted it as intensely the institutions, it is also because, unlike what was the case with the H1N1 flu, the symptoms of the COVID-19 do not appear in all patients. “It is a major blind spots,” says Abergel. [When the containment has been announced], for almost a week, there was no one sick. While the world went about its business. The institutions were closed to visitors, but the virus had already had time to spread, ” says Mr Abergel.

When the outbreaks began to erupt, the time lag was too great between the actual needs and those anticipated. To this was added a screaming lack of staff, not only because of the disease, but also because of the fear caused by it.

“It must not be forgotten that, when looking at the LCN, RDI and CNN of this world, China, Italy, it was monstrous,” recalls Mr. Abergel. The many changes of directives from one day to another have also helped strengthen the fears of some. “What was recommended a day was no longer valid the next day. There are a lot of people who were scared and it has the same led behaviors of panic “, he says.

Sometimes ten minutes notice, many employees called their superiors to inform them that they would be finally absent. The rate of absence has reached 75 % in some institutions, indicates the p.-d. g. It is at this time that the movement of staff from one institution to another becomes inevitable.

“It was the management of risk. When I have a facility where there are normally 20 orderlies and there are 18 who are absent, I have to make a decision, ” he said. We wanted to keep the humanism and dignity to our residents. To give a care of basic hygiene, it takes people. If a person working in an institution is available to come and help in one other, being equipped to not contaminate others, well we will manage this risk, ” he says.

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