Meet CMAT Volunteer Ruby Dyall, RN!
April 6-12, 2014 is National Volunteer Week.
Meet some of the inspiring CMAT volunteers who help us fulfil our missions in communities around the world!
CMAT Volunteer RN Ruby Dyall discusses treatment options for an infant with its mother in Haiti, April 2010.
April 10, 2014: Ruby Dyall, RN
CMAT Volunteer RN Ruby Dyall was working as a nurse on a cruise ship when the earthquake struck Haiti in January 2010. “After seeing several of the Haitian crew members I was working with trying frantically for hours on end, night after night, to reach their loved ones in Haiti, I decided right then that I would volunteer my services as a nurse as soon as I finished my contract on the ship,” she states.
Her friends and family were very supportive, even if they did have some of concerns about the risk involved. News about the health hazards, the civil unrest and the overall living conditions had her children a bit worried, but they let her go with their blessings.
Reflecting on her experience with CMAT in Haiti, Ruby recalls, “We were able to rehydrate patients using IV fluids, give antibiotics both oral and intravenous, do loads of wound care, suturing, skin care, cast applications for the broken bones and restart the patients on their medications for their chronic illnesses. We tended to the new mothers and their newborn babies, including a set of twins. We did several mobile clinics to the tents where sick people who unable to get to the field clinic were living. ” Ruby further remarked, “We worked long hours and did overnight call, the temperature in our clinic tent was often over 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
Hailing from Grand Banks, Newfoundland, Ruby is a nurse, a daughter, a sister, a mother and a grandmother. She is also a community and international volunteer. She attended nursing school in a very small community and later did her nursing degree at the Grace General Hospital in St John’s Newfoundland. She remarks, “life has been very good to me and giving back is an important obligation!”
To Volunteer with CMAT, visit www.canadianmedicalteams.org/volunteer
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