This booth, which allows doctors to examine patients behind a wall, is tested in a Coronavirus Covid-19 consultation centre in Fronton, near Toulouse.
For the nostalgic, it looks a bit like a phone booth. This facility, which is not used for making calls, has been tested for a few days in the Covid-19 consultation centre in Fronton (Haute-Garonne), a town north of Toulouse.
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Better protect caregivers
The idea of its designer, the company Halt’Brac ? Build booths that exist in South Korea to examine patients with Coronavirus Covid-19, to better protect caregivers, who are known to be highly exposed to the coronavirus, by allowing doctors to examine patients behind a wall.
Armel Lande, the manager of this company specializing in security and anti-terrorism, then contacted Dr Jérôme Marty, president of the French Union for Free Medicine (UFML) and known in particular for these passages on the program ” Les Grandes Gueules ”, on RMC. Who therefore agreed to test the prototype, which was deposited in the consultation centre dedicated to Covid-19, in Fronton.
Armel Lande explains:
“Quite often I heard Doctor Marty complain about the lack of protection for caregivers. I have heard of a widespread system in Korea and have offered to use it. Our cabin is all aluminum, it can be assembled and disassembled very quickly, be reused or even shipped elsewhere if there are needs. We decided to manufacture around twenty booths which will be offered to the municipalities who wish to do so. If we are asked for others, we will sell them at cost price. It is really not a commercial operation! I’m not doing this to make money. As we have more time, we simply wanted to help. “
“Everything is waterproof”
This cabin costs 634 euros, a relatively low price given the usefulness it could have if the process is validated by the medical profession. Doctor Jérôme Marty believes that this type of facility has many advantages, even if “small adjustments” will undoubtedly be expected if it is to be generalized:
“If you find yourself facing someone who coughs a lot, these cabs allow there to be no risk of transmission of excretions to the caregiver. A window separates the caregiver from the patient and everything is waterproof. The caregiver will examine it without risk. We know that the virus is transmitted by close and prolonged contact. The advantage of this type of cabin is to avoid this.”
A promising innovation that could be used in Coronavirus Covid-19 consultation centres where there are many patients.
“You have to keep in mind that in Korea, they use it in centres where there are a lot of patients to examine. In a centre where there are around 40 patients with Coronavirus Covid-19 per day, it may be worth it to use this type of cabin, “concludes Dr Marty.
Cabine d’examen sur la base de celles utilisées en Corée du Sud, fabriquée pendant la crise par un entrepreneur des Bouches – du – Rhône et reçue pour essai au centre #COVID19 de Fronton. A disposer dans un sas. Pour renseignements : alkodeveloppement@live.fr pic.twitter.com/XBtEz4ZCa8
— DrMartyUFML-S (@Drmartyufml) April 16, 2020