Stéphanie Cassildé: stretcher bearer

Since she was 16, Stéphanie Cassildé has held a number of jobs and gained experience in a variety of fields. First as a hospital aide in Paris during school breaks between 2016 and 2019, then as a custodian for a school complex and a theater, she has found fulfillment in this people-oriented and social sector. She then moved into the public school system, where she became a school support specialist and later a teaching assistant while also performing secretarial duties. Her sister, a night nurse at Gustave Roussy, told her about the profession of stretcher bearer and the dynamic nature of the field. In August 2021, Stéphanie Cassildé completed a 15-day training program, was evaluated, and then hired. “I’d already had surgery and knew some stretcher bearers; I’d already had some exposure to the profession. So the start went well.”

Very comfortable interacting with patients—a skill the young woman learned to develop in her previous job—she finds it very easy to approach people she doesn’t know. “I like to spend a little time with patients—just enough—talking to them, or even singing a few songs, especially when I sense they’re stressed.” By cultivating patience and gentleness—two essential qualities for a stretcher attendant—she acknowledges that she’s able to handle certain delicate situations, such as that of a patient who was “agitated and confused and, after a scintigraphy, didn’t want to return to the ER and refused to be moved.”

Stéphanie Cassildé works alongside her partner as part of a young, mixed-gender team. “Patients are happy to see a woman and let us know it. Elsewhere, it seems the profession is mostly practiced by men.” The young stretcher attendant feels just as capable as her male colleagues in her role, “even though handling and moving a patient can be quite physically demanding. On the other hand, pushing beds or chairs isn’t too difficult, especially when you have good technology. A wheel that comes off track is fixed right away.” Aware that she has a useful job that’s an integral part of patient care, the stretcher attendant admits, however, that her profession may not be sufficiently valued and would benefit from being better known.

Her fixed schedule—Monday through Friday from 10:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.—allows her to spend some time with her two children, who are cared for by her parents, “even though I can’t pick them up after school.” If the opportunity arises, Stéphanie Cassildé would like to work night shifts to better balance her life as a mother with her career. This former boxer, who was trained by her older brother, ended her 12-year career due to tendonitis in her wrist. But both in her personal life and at Gustave Roussy, Stéphanie Cassildé remains the athlete she once was: calm and determined.