Ten days after the passage of Cyclone Chido, the Mayotte archipelago continues to heal its wounds. The latest provisional report from the Ministry of the Interior shows 35 dead and more than 2,500 injured. To deal with this influx of victims, a field hospital was deployed at the Cavani stadium in Mamoudzou.
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Built in just 72 hours by firefighters from mainland France, it occupies the Cavani football field, less than a kilometer from the Mamoudzou hospital center. The latter, the only hospital in the archipelago, was seriously damaged by the cyclone.
With an area of 1,600 square meters, this temporary structure’s main mission is to relieve congestion in the hospital center. It is equipped to function like a traditional establishment, with operating theaters, a pharmacy, a medical imaging room and an emergency department.
Forty-five members of the civil security medical corps, including emergency doctors, two intensive care anesthetists, a surgeon and a midwife, ensure the operation of this hospital. According to a nurse on site, the majority of patients require septic surgery.
Completely autonomous, the field hospital can operate for a month thanks to systems producing water and energy. Around thirty fully equipped tents were installed on the synthetic lawn, making it possible to treat up to a hundred patients every day, according to the prefect of Mayotte François-Xavier Bieuville.
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An emergency structure
While this field hospital strives to respond to the health emergency, the human toll of the cyclone remains uncertain. On the island, rumors abound regarding potential mass graves in areas still inaccessible to emergency services.
Abdallah Antoy, a resident of Mamoudzou, believes that the official results will never reflect reality: “ Many people were buried without being counted “, he confided.
Abdallah Antoy, Mahorais resident
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