A French television producer in Paris had been trained in how to treat wounds in case she was ever sent to a war zone — but on Friday, the violence came to her doorstep.
Anne Sophie de Chaisemartin, a producer for France 24, was at a friend's apartment across from La Belle Equipe Friday night when gunmen opened fire on the crowd in a night of terror.
Running to the scene, she did not expect the extent of the carnage. "This is the most terrible image I have in my head, is to see 10, 11, 12, 13, maybe 15 people lying down," de Chaisemartin said.
De Chaisemartin ran home and grabbed a medical kit, which contained supplies to treat war wounds, and returned to help the injured.
"I remember I have to stop bleedings, that was the only thing in my head,” she said.
De Chaisemartin treated a woman shot in the arm first, applying a tourniquet to stop the bleeding. "People started to feel the pain and people started to scream and people started to panic … to ask for, 'Treat me first, what are you doing? Help me! Look at this!'" she said.
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Another person de Chaisemartin treated was an American woman who didn’t speak a word of French. De Chaisemartin was able to comfort her in English.
"She had beautiful eyes," de Chaisemartin said. "And I was joking, actually joking with her. I was trying to keep her focused and with me."
"She was less wounded than others so she had to wait, a long time, a very long time, lying on the floor. She was shaking, she was very cold, and and, she was very, very, very courageous," de Chaisemartin said.
As a journalist, De Chaisemartin received training on how to stay safe when reporting in war zones last September.
As she treated the wounded before professional medical help arrived, she repeated "the drill," a series of steps to be taken.
"I remember, 'oh my God, I hope I'm not doing the wrong thing,” de Chaisemartin said. Other bystanders also rushed to help and comfort the wounded until police and paramedics arrived, she said.
"The only thing to do is to comfort them, calm them down, put blanket, keep them warm," she said. "And keep them on Earth with us.”
Nineteen people were killed in the attack on La Belle Equipe, a popular bar in the 11th arrondissement, officials said. Overall 129 people were killed in the terror attacks, which targeted the Stade de France, cafes and a nightclub full of concertgoers.
The terror group ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack. De Chaisemartin said if the terrorists believe the attack will take anything away from the culture and lifestyle of Paris, they are mistaken.
"They didn't take anything," she said. "We will really stand up and fight in our own way. We will always have this love of the baguette. We will always annoy everyone with our horrible smelly cheese."
"I remember songs of Edith Piaf, singing about our lifestyle, about, you know, French art, French culture. Nothing of this has been taken," de Chaisemartin said.
"This happened in Paris now, but for me it happened, it happened in all the world at the same time," she said.
