An emergency doctor and a nurse from the Hôtel-Dieu de Lévis united their common passion for comics a few years ago to create Stat, a series that lifts the veil with humor on the reality of emergencies. They have just launched their latest creation: The Ohshit pandemic.
The story of Statwhich began long before the famous television series of the same name, originated in 2011, when the Dr François Paquet and Yves Lessard, a nurse, worked together in the emergency room of the Hôtel-Dieu in Lévis.
The nurse was scribbling a drawing while reading files and the little sketch caught the eye of his emergency doctor colleague, who was looking for a designer for his comic book project inspired by the reality of emergencies.
Without knowing it, the Dr Paquet worked with a nurse who also had a career in the field.
“I was a cartoonist for years for newspapers in Ottawa, where I once lived. Particularly in the Ottawa Citizen», says the now retired nurse.
For the Dr Package, it was the rare pearl to complete it.
“With a conventional designer, he would have had to go on the internet to find out how to draw an IV pole, or a heart monitor for example. I already know that,” explains Mr. Lessard.
“The Ohshit Pandemic”, the most recent comic strip by Dr. François Paquet and Yves Lessard.
Photo Catherine Bouchard
Laugh at the system
They currently have three books available, including their latestThe Ohshit pandemic, inspired by an event that everyone remembers. Code Blue is a reissue and the Archives is a summary of other stories enhanced with unpublished ones. These books are for everyone.
In their latest opus, “everyone goes cash,” laugh the two cartoonists.
“Whether it’s us, the medical staff, the media, the conspiracy theorists, the government, as well as ordinary people,” underlines Mr. Lessard.
The two enthusiasts worked on this comic strip for two years. Like the Dr Paquet still works full time, he has found time “just about everywhere”.
Dr. François Paquet and Yves Lessard, a retired nurse, together create humorous comic strips dealing with the medical world.
Phooto Catherine Bouchard
“The idea is to sit down at the end of the shift and take in the comical situations of the day. I try to record them right away, otherwise we forget. And then, we prepare the scenarios,” explains the emergency doctor.
Another comic is also ready. The one who was to be named Code Orange could be renamed. However, the content promises to provoke a reaction.
“It really talks about the system from A to Z. Why hospital food is crap, why we wait in the emergency room, why we lack nurses and what is the solution to this shortage” , specifies the nurse.
And rest assured: no patient was poorly treated.
“We laugh at the system,” underlines Mr. Lessard.
The two creators seem to attract readers since they sold more than 200 copies of their books during the last Montreal Book Fair.
The dedications are made in an original way in the comic strips of Dr François Paquet and Yves Lessard, with a reproduction of the real prescription sheets.
Photo Catherine Bouchard
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