On 22 march, we woke up early to take the train to Schuman. Kostas always walks to the EFN office, and comes near to Maelbeek metro station. Fatima takes the tram to Midi station, and then the metro to Troon, close to the EFN office. But 22 March, it was different. My train stopped suddenly in Schuman. Fatima\u2019s metro stopped far away from Troon and walked to the office. Kostas saw that Maelbeek was not as always. I started sending sms\u2019, where are you, go to a safe place! Fatima told me immediately, Gaetan (her husband) is on its way to Maelbeek for emergency nursing, as the THON Hotel EU, turned into triage hotel. Heidi called me as she followed CNN and knew I was in an extremely dangorous environment, she was so scared losing me! In the long run, we all got safely home with our PCs\u2019. Yes! with our PCs\u2019!, as we knew very well we would not return to Brussels the following days. We were all safe, that was the most important.<\/p>\n
In meantine, our colleagues took over at the hot spot. Here the stories of two brave nurses, Gaetan and Maty, I believe you should read:<\/p>\n
Maty – Works at St. Pierre hospital – Intensive Care Unit:\u00a0 \u201cWe lived a terrible day yesterday… We remained professional, efficient! Everything was ready to receive the victims heavily attained, coming back from the operating room. We all stayed till the end. We needed to stay with our colleagues, our professional family. We supported each other because we couldn\u2019t reach our families. We dried our tears and worked, worked and worked… Today, I think of those who still don\u2019t have news of a family member, a friend, a colleague! Say to your beloved ones that you love them, every day….\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Gaetan – Nurse – Intensive Care\/Emergency: \u201cThis Tuesday 22 March 2016, when going to work, I <\/em>was informed by the radio that an explosion had just occurred at the Brussels airport. Quickly news become worrying. Rumours of terrorist attack rise and a climate of terror falls down on the city. I am serene as regards the full assistance and medical means put in place since the Paris attacks. Less than an hour later the drama, I am informed that a new explosion took place in the metro, right in the centre of Brussels, just a step away from the European Commission. Given the extent of the disaster, I have the feeling that it is the one event too much. I take my car and drive through the city at high speed \u2026 <\/em><\/p>\n When I arrive there, it is chaos\u2026 I am just ten meters\u2019 away from the catastrophe. I decide to set up the Medical Advanced Post with the doctor who coordinates all means on the site. Hastily, we clear the tables and chairs, with the hotel staff\u2026 the first victims arrive with the firefighters… suffering of severe burns, blasted, shocked\u2026 The equipment is not yet there\u2026 the victims are laying down on the ground\u2026 and sorted according to the seriousness of their lesions\u2026 U1 U2 U3\u2026 we determine zones for every category of victims\u2026 The medical devices finally arrive\u2026 we are 4 nurses present in the medical post before the arrival of reinforcements. We put perfusions non-stop\u2026 we relieve pain with morphine\u2026 it is the same syringe for several victims\u2026 we put masks with oxygen, packs to protect and relieve burns\u2026 face, hands, body\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n We are cut from the outside world\u2026 surrounded by the police present for perimeter containment, rescue vehicles siren non-stop\u2026 We work tirelessly\u2026 there are nursing students present as first-aid workers for the Red Cross, helping us\u2026 We are all looking at each other, a smile, a wink to support each other\u2026 when is this going to finish\u2026 the victims continuously arrive\u2026 We make our maximum to coordinate the Medical Advanced Post, to relieve the victims, to bring comfort. <\/em><\/p>\n Personally, I did not think\u2026 I had to help\u2026 help! be a link in this assistance chain\u2026 <\/em><\/p>\n I only digested and realised the scale of the catastrophe in the evening, in front of television \u2026 We talk about it amongst us\u2026 and now, it is a feeling of anger and incomprehension. And I will still be there if it would happen again\u2026 it is part of my beliefs. My training and my experience helped me to respond appropriately and proactively \u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n The day after, you do not want to listen to any news anymore. It is all too much information. But more important are the EFN members \u00a0messages, unbelievable! You feel what solidarity means. You know, understand priorities. Unbelievable!<\/p>\n We express our sincere thanks and gratitude to all your support and solidarity. At that moment you just feel the strength of nurses!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On 22 march, we woke up early to take the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4124,"url":"https:\/\/efn.eu\/?p=4124","url_meta":{"origin":7789,"position":0},"title":"Europe Day Today!","author":"efn efn","date":"May 8, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Marking the 63rd anniversary of the historical \u2018Schuman declaration\u2019, expressed on 9 May 1950, when the then French Foreign Minister, Robert Schuman, made the first move towards the creation of the European Union, the Europe Day celebrates peace and unity in Europe. Embracing the on-going design of the EU and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Latest News"","block_context":{"text":"Latest News","link":"https:\/\/efn.eu\/?cat=35"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7770,"url":"https:\/\/efn.eu\/?p=7770","url_meta":{"origin":7789,"position":1},"title":"Bomb attacks in Brussels today!","author":"efn efn","date":"March 22, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"22 March 2016 - The EFN members express their deep personal sadness, and that of the entire nursing community, in the wake of today\u2019s horrific attacks in Brussels, the capital of Europe where the EFN Office is located. It is clear the entire country is very distressed by the events,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Latest News"","block_context":{"text":"Latest News","link":"https:\/\/efn.eu\/?cat=35"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":18969,"url":"https:\/\/efn.eu\/?p=18969","url_meta":{"origin":7789,"position":2},"title":"Happy Europe Day to All!","author":"efn efn","date":"May 8, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"On Europe Day, that marks the anniversary of the Schuman Declaration (9 May 1950), the EFN would like to take the opportunity to celebrate all the EU nurses for their relentless support and contribution to ensure that the European project is a success for all, including the European nurses, patients,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Latest News"","block_context":{"text":"Latest News","link":"https:\/\/efn.eu\/?cat=35"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/efn.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/IMG-20230913-WA0009.jpg?fit=1200%2C852&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/efn.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/IMG-20230913-WA0009.jpg?fit=1200%2C852&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/efn.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/IMG-20230913-WA0009.jpg?fit=1200%2C852&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/efn.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/IMG-20230913-WA0009.jpg?fit=1200%2C852&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/efn.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/IMG-20230913-WA0009.jpg?fit=1200%2C852&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8170,"url":"https:\/\/efn.eu\/?p=8170","url_meta":{"origin":7789,"position":3},"title":"104th EFN General Assembly – Key decisions taken from European nursing leaders on topics impacting on nurses daily operational environment","author":"efn efn","date":"October 31, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The EFN governance body led to successful policy outcomes (Madrid on 20-21 October 2016), creating opportunities to focus down on the EFN key lobby priorities and providing the mandate to lobby the European Institutions. The EFN members (Belgium & Netherlands) took this opportunity to highlight the professionalism of the nurses\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Latest News"","block_context":{"text":"Latest News","link":"https:\/\/efn.eu\/?cat=35"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":18566,"url":"https:\/\/efn.eu\/?p=18566","url_meta":{"origin":7789,"position":4},"title":"EFN Speaker at the EU event on \u201cA Roadmap for an Ethical AI in Healthcare\u201d","author":"efn efn","date":"March 25, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Today EFN was one of the speakers in the high-level event organised by the Delegation of the Government of Catalonia to the European Union on \u201cA Roadmap for an Ethical AI in Healthcare\u201d. Among the high-level speakers featured MEP Tomislav Sokol\u00a0 (Coordinator for the EPP in SANT, Croatia) who gave\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Latest News"","block_context":{"text":"Latest News","link":"https:\/\/efn.eu\/?cat=35"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/efn.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/manuel-in-the-panel-la-pic.png?fit=597%2C447&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/efn.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/manuel-in-the-panel-la-pic.png?fit=597%2C447&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/efn.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/manuel-in-the-panel-la-pic.png?fit=597%2C447&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2736,"url":"https:\/\/efn.eu\/?p=2736","url_meta":{"origin":7789,"position":5},"title":"50 Polish Nurses at EFN Brussels Office","author":"efn efn","date":"September 26, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Last 17 September, a group of 50 polish nurses (members of the Polish Nurses Association, a member of EFN) present in Brussels for a study visit to gain insight into EU politics and learn more about the EU Institutions took this opportunity to also know more about EFN and its\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Latest News"","block_context":{"text":"Latest News","link":"https:\/\/efn.eu\/?cat=35"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/efn.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/efn.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/efn.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/efn.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/efn.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7789"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/efn.eu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7789\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/efn.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/efn.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/efn.eu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}