North Bay nurse provided primary care in Ukraine to families fleeing war
A North Bay nurse got a first-hand look at the impact of the war in Ukraine when she travelled to the Ukraine-Poland border to care for displaced families trying to escape the conflict.
Jenny Ryan flew overseas in mid May, knowing she wouldn’t just be providing physical care, but also emotional support.
“The Ukrainian people need our help,” Ryan said.
“I spoke to many people who lost friends and family in the war. It’s a real thing for them. It’s not fake news.”
Ryan, a registered hospital nurse with the North Bay Regional Health Centre, volunteered with the Canadian Medical Assistance Teams (CMAT), a disaster relief organization made up of volunteer health professionals.
She met with fellow nurses, doctors and a translator to provide basic medical care to Ukrainians fleeing war.
Ryan was stationed in Poland and would cross into western Ukraine to work at a stationary clinic each day.
“One mom and her children were stuck at the border, because sometimes it would take two to three days to cross the border because the lineups were quite large,” she said.
“She was nine weeks pregnant and she drove 1,000 kilometres and she was quite nauseous from being pregnant. So we provided treatment for her.”
Ryan met many families looking to take refuge in other areas of the country or neighbouring countries.
“Many of them had their husbands still fighting in the war. They didn’t really want to leave Ukraine,” she said.
“Some of them didn’t have the resources to leave Ukraine.”
This is the first conflict the CMAT has been deployed to since starting up as a non-profit organization back in 2005. Ordinarily, the medical teams respond to natural disasters.
“Early on in our deployment in March we were seeing 40-50 patients a day in our mobile and stationary clinics,” said CMAT executive director Valerie Rzepka, in a Zoom interview from Lviv.
"That has decreased to about 8-10 patients a day."
CMAT estimates it has supported a few thousand Ukrainians since the war began. The operation ends June 30, when the Canadian medical professionals will start a transition period.
“We will be transitioning to a more supportive role providing training and education to local providers,” said Rzepka.
Ryan said if the Russian aggression escalates, she’d be willing to go back to help. The European crisis really puts things into perspective on how lucky we are to live in Canada, she added.
“We have a good health care system. We live in a peaceful country and we have freedom here,” she said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Orca calf that was trapped in B.C. lagoon for weeks swims free
An orca whale calf that has been stranded in a B.C. lagoon for weeks after her pregnant mother died swam out on her own early Friday morning.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
Powerful tornado tears across Nebraska, weather service warns of 'catastrophic' damage
Devastating tornadoes tore across parts of eastern Nebraska and northeast Texas Friday as a multi-day severe thunderstorm event ramped up in the central United States.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Trump's lawyers try to discredit testimony of prosecution's first witness in hush money trial
Donald Trump's defence team attacked the credibility Friday of the prosecution's first witness in his hush money case, seeking to discredit testimony detailing a scheme between Trump and a tabloid to bury negative stories to protect the Republican's 2016 presidential campaign.