Present in the archipelago since December 19, 29 firefighters from Gard returned from operations this Wednesday, January 15. They helped to relieve the Mahorese population hard hit by Cyclone Chido in a field hospital, ESCRIM, deployed near Mamoudzou.
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An intense and rewarding mission, there are 29 of them returning to the mainland on Wednesday morning. Return to Nîmes for these Gard firefighters, proud to have relieved the people of Mahor from the consequences of the cataclysm which ravaged this French department located in the Comoros archipelago.
They intervened as part of ESCRIM, the rapid civil security element of medical intervention.
The Gard firefighters were assigned to the field hospital located in the Cavani district near Mamoudzou. Their daily life: treating, operating, casting.
Many interventions linked to the reconstruction of housing, nails driven into the feet or cuts on the limbs.
Bérengère Sauzeat, orthopedic surgeon, SDIS du Gard.
Colonel Michel Cherbetian, the commander of the detachment, mentions around 300 people received at the hospital every day and between 10 and 15 surgical operations carried out: “A rate normally higher than the hospital's capacity but to which we responded.” Around a hundred patients were referred to a dispensary run by an NGO.
The Gard firefighters spent the holidays in this environment. They don't complain about it. Up to 15 hours of daily service, food rations and a few minutes to take a shower, it doesn't matter, the essentials have been accomplished. More problematic: an air conditioning failure complicated the task of the rescuers.
Last adventure, the hasty dismantling last Friday of the field hospital due to the approach of a new tropical storm: “Il had to dismantle 70 tonnes of material in a few hours to avoid damage” says Colonel Cherbetian, a race against time.
The field hospital was not yet fully back in service when they left. New rescuers will continue the work: 11 firefighters from Gard and 8 health service personnel left for Mayotte on Monday January 13.
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