Self-reflection in self-isolation

I have been a military nurse and later an international coach for years. Like, everyone, I read, listen and watch carefully what is going on. I notice an increase of public panic and paranoia. Increase of articles trying to find faults in everything and a way to blame someone. Teachers are criticised for not home-schooling children immediately. Do people didn’t notice we are in an unprecedented emergency? Children will catch up soon enough, a few months won’t harm them. You as a parent are the ones putting that pressure with a deadline to pass exams and compete with other parents.
 As a parent, you are responsible to educate them. What a great opportunity to learn more about hygiene, viruses, manners toward vulnerable people or even career options. What more valuable education are you looking for? It reminds me of people trying to be busy at work for the sake of being busy. Rather than looking to make the business more efficient and be creative, innovative they worry to lose their work rather than finding a way to help the business survive. Our own fears are our biggest danger.


Paranoia is another big pandemic problem. The same can be said for careless people. People are selfish thinking about their leisure, sporting events be cancelled. I am one of them, but I have my priority right. Between conspiracies, exaggerations to people thinking “it will be grand” a balance is needed. Do people really think the government, who has access to experts and a direct line with other governments, would let the world economy to collapse, let people die on purpose, lose their homes, and let them starve? Really? Regardless of your political views, and how happy you are with the country response, it’s not a one-man show decision. I wonder if some people have ever been part of a local committee. Imagine what’s happening at that level when you must agree and make a decision and take it to the level of a political group in such a crisis, working for the good of the country, knowing some of your citizens will not make it. We all will pick up the tab at the end of the day, and it is each government advantage to have a healthy workforce population. I am not sure how people can possibly believe that making a call on reducing respiratory machines from 48h to 24h for patients is taken lightly. I let you figure out the impact on a chance of survival for a body to recover between 24 and 48h.



Yugoslavia war March 1998

I was part of an international task force in the French army. Part of a special rescue operation team specialised in health emergency and contingency plan in similar crises. At the age of 18, I was in Goma in 1995 when a Cholera outbreak claimed thousands of people. I was just a child. The following years I worked with endemic infectious disease in Somalia civil war with the UN 1996, Ethiopia in 1998 including Ebola in Zaire and Gabon (1996). We built field hospitals with standard and inflatable tents with Surgical rooms, Intensive care units, triage and disinfection chamber. I would assume we have evolved since. African population survived worse which many forgot or are even not aware of. Now that an outbreak rises in the western world, we are waking up slowly. I would strongly recommend reading the history of diseases around the world. We survived with major human losses like the plague (75millions), typhus (4million) even measles or smallpox (200 to 300million) and many others. Maybe something you can educate your children about.

Example of protective suits in preparation for Albania in 1997 for biological and nuclear weapon examination.
Advanced medical field hospital training before Afghanistan departure 1996




Blowable medical tent preparing for Kosovo liberation in 1999
The difference in our more modern world is that we are trying to reduce the impact on the number of people who will unfortunately not make it. And this can be achieved by simple common sense. I read recently people talking about cancer death and other illnesses compare to this type of pandemic. It sounds like they are diminishing a global pandemic and they obviously don’t realise the impact on the most vulnerable people. What if a simple change of behaviour can save your close ones? What did we learn from what the past generation worked for and gave their lives for? Maybe it's the military experience talking which has given me an understanding of how life is precious and never forget how lucky I am to have made it. The day this un-invited guest will come knocking to your own door taking someone close, it will change your perception. I wonder what anti-vaccine people would say if a Covid-19 vaccine was available today? Suddenly we forgot global warming, politics, usual news.
Fire Brigade & ambulance services nurse in Paris after my graduation. Just before joining the military health services at UISC1
It’s amazing what people do to support each other. I am not religious, but my understanding and common to most religion is to respect and help each other. In a community sharing the same beliefs and culture, I thank my parents and grandparents for it. I hear people giving up their benefits, bonuses to allow businesses to survive. Employees across the country volunteer to face people in shops, take away, chemist, optometric, audiologist and many more making an effort. Supermarkets are hiring people who lose their jobs. Special opening hours are available to vulnerable people. Neighbour watching out for each other and so much more. This is the world we should be living in every day regardless of any crisis. Emergencies rooms are not saturated with minor injuries or illness but life-threatening emergencies. What should we take as a learning lesson? Should we review what constitutes a real emergency? As a nurse, my definition and prioritisation are always related to what is life-threatening or in harder terms; who would die first and their chances to make it. I did it many times unfortunately in Turkey or Greece during the earthquakes in 1999 or during the Yugoslavia or Kosovo war.


To summarise, we will survive this will some losses undoubtedly. It’s about cutting our losses. Good people will come out stronger and closer to their community. Common sense and drive to make people’s life better will overcome selfishness. All the toilet paper in the world will not save you. At the end of the day, if you listened to your parents, grandparents when growing up, we wouldn’t be here today. Did they not tell you to wash your hands, get away from strangers, stop touching everything with your hand, how to cough, sneeze etc… You know where I am coming from right? Again, a good opportunity to thanks them and tell them they were right. The solution has been there all along thanks to the generation of knowledge transfer. We just forgot some of the reasons, lost in history and resurfacing today.


In conclusion, be responsible and accountable, change your behaviour, stop blaming the world and take ownership of yourself and your family. We are teaching our children to be patient so let's do the same as adults.

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