Amherstburg nurse delivering aid in Caribbean as volunteer after Hurricane Irma
Local nurse will be part of 4 member advance team that will handle logistics, administration issues
Carolyn Davies is heading to the British Virgin Islands as part of a group of volunteers from Canada trying to deliver medical aid to a region battered by what experts call the most expensive storm to ever hit the Caribbean.
"We don't know whether or not we'll be using a formal structure or we'll be working on the ground just in a field," said Davies, who is part of a four person advance team for the Canadian Medical Assistance Teams (CMAT).
Hurricane Irma has caused more than $10-billion in damage in the Caribbean, destroying close to 95 per cent of the buildings on Saint Martin and killed at least 34 people in the region.
Davies, a nurse practitioner from Amherstburg, is flying out with CMAT, a non-profit, non-governmental organization (NGO) that's providing aid to communities struck by the Category 5 hurricane last week.
"A lof the places that someone might go for primary care aren't going to be existing so we're going to be assessing what needs to be done," she told Windsor Morning, adding that they're received reports that a lot of bridges and buildings have been reduced to rubble.
'They've lost everything'
Davies said she knows the trip will also be spent helping residents deal with the mental trauma the storm has caused from its destruction.
"Probably a lot of psychological support as well, because they've lost everything," said Davies, who has volunteered with the organization in the past, following earthquakes in Nepal and Haiti.
The CMAT team will deliver medications, immunizations and minor and major wound treatments. They'll also help treat medical problems people may have been facing before the storm made landfall.
"Some of them may have diseases that are on-going that they haven't had a chance to deal with because there's no place for them to go," said Davies.
She said the team has prepared for different kinds of injuries specific to what a hurricane can cause, compared to deployments in earthquake disaster zones.
"We're going to be addressing more of flooding injuries, being struck by objects - those kinds of things," said Davies.
Donation driven
Davies is part of an advanced team that will asses the situation and layout the strategy for CMAT.
"We'll know the site, we'll know exactly what we're going to be doing and we'll be ready to hit the ground running."
The remaining members are expected to arrive on Friday.
"We're all volunteers, we all work our own way down - none of us are paid," said Davies. "If we can help a small amount of people that allows their lives to turn around, that's what we want to do."
She said that the entire stash of medical supplies that will head down to the Caribbean is covered by donations.
Davies said people who would like to donate can visit the website at www.c-mat.org
with files from Robin Brown