after cyclone Chido, the field hospital in Mamoudzou is already running at full capacity

MAYOTTE – 39 dead and some 2,500 injured. These are the figures from the latest human toll from the passage of Cyclone Chido in Mayotte. The mission to identify victims of the disaster continues, and the results remain provisional. Essential services such as water or electricity are far from all being restored in the archipelago, but the Mamoudzou field hospital opened its doors on Tuesday, December 24 in the morning, to accommodate the many patients affected by the cyclone.

Located in a stadium east of Mamoudzou, the department’s capital, this hospital is equipped with a maternity ward and two operating theaters, indicates AFP. It is designed to be able to receive 100 people per day for consultations and ensure 30 hospitalizations. These 1,600 m of tents are also designed to deal with the start of epidemics, one of the main health risks after the cyclone.

According to the AFP journalist, as soon as it opened on Tuesday morning, there was a large crowd. A queue stretched outside the entrance, with some patients claiming to have arrived as early as 6 a.m. Like Jafar Bahedja, 54, who explains that he is “ fell back » the day of the cyclone and have since had difficulty walking or sitting. Or this man, who drove a nail into his leg during the cyclone. “The tetanus risk remains very high. So we test all patients who have wounds for tetanus vaccination,” explains the chief doctor of the hospital to France Inter.

The temporary establishment also welcomes pregnant women, some of whom are very distressed. “This morning, we had a mother who was almost four months pregnant. When I put the ultrasound machine on and she heard the heart sounds, she started crying, crying with relief. Behind, she told us that she had lost everything, except that,” says Stéphanie Jacquard, midwife.

Already 14 surgical interventions

According to one of the civil security training and intervention units, since Tuesday morning the field hospital has already treated 313 patients, delivered an infant and carried out 14 surgical operations.

This is a real logistical challenge, as described by Doctor Anthony, of the 7th Civil Security Training and Intervention Regiment, at Mayotte La 1re. It’s necessary ” bring back almost five tonnes of material from the mainland to Reunion Island, recut it so that it goes to Petite-Terre, then from Petite-Terre take the barge and take it to Grande-Terre” he explains.

Crucial point in the archipelago, care is of course free, but above all, no identity document is required to be able to receive treatment. A way to ensure we welcome patients who “ would not dare to go » to consult. “ We ask for a name for follow-up, but no papers »specifies Warrant Officer Romain to AFP, a Civil Security soldier, who co-manages the site with the firefighters. The archipelago is indeed home to a large population of undocumented people from the Comoros, and affected by the cyclone.