The Pointe-à-Pitre University Hospital (Guadeloupe) has recorded a worrying peak in mortality since a fire destroyed half of the establishment on November 28. Medical personnel must now officiate in extreme conditions in tents.
The staff of the CHU of Pointe-à-Pitre, in Guadeloupe, have lacked resources since the fire of November 28, 2017 which destroyed the maternity hospital, the intensive care unit, the emergency room and four operating theaters. For four months, he has been receiving emergencies in tents set up in the parking lot. According to Europe 1, patients sometimes stay there for several days. “The patients are inhumanely bedded with simple sheets to have confidentiality,” adds Véronique Courtois, assistant in pediatric surgery, from the UTS UGTG union.
43 more deaths than in 2017
The situation is such that the burnt-out appliances have not been replaced, that the cupboards are sometimes empty, the means limited. A 70-year-old man died suddenly after presenting to the CHU for a stroke. “An intern responded by saying that he was in the operating room and that, unfortunately, there was not enough material to operate,” says his daughter.
Equally dramatic is the case of a 22-year-old girl who died on the operating table because there was only one cylinder of oxygen left in the building. According to the CHU defense collective, 43 additional deaths in two and a half months were recorded, an increase of 31% compared to the same period in 2017. Among them, 10 babies died for lack of equipment or because of the tremors. due to the road in bad condition.
Online petition calls for new structure
An online petition has been launched and shared on Twitter. “Today, the conditions of the CHU are deplorable. The patients as well as the medical teams are in danger, their health is in danger”, write the authors of the petition.
?? Don’t we let ourselves die ??
? Let’s save the Guadeloupe CHU.
? Without a hospital are we all doomed?
(Children, parents, friends, in short … ALL of us!)https://t.co/ouS9HdGXqq https://t.co/ouS9HdGXqq– Bernie VUILLEMIN (@peyiprod) March 28, 2018
“We cannot live without CHU, we have the right to a new structure so that we are equipped, because without CHU, our lifestyle will decrease, we will no longer be able to be treated properly. Will we have to leave for treatment? . Jobs are threatened, life is threatened, the economy is too. ” Indeed, a third of the 3,300 employees of the hospital are on sick leave. The resignations follow one another, the departures for the metropolis too.
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