(Carolyn Strom/Facebook)

By Derek Craddock

STORIES FROM THE FRONT LINES

‘We’re tired’: Prince Albert nurse shares her pandemic stories at the legislature

Dec 1, 2021 | 3:00 PM

After a more than three-hour drive, a local health care worker finally had the chance to share her firsthand experiences of the COVID-19 pandemic with the provincial government.

Carolyn Strom is a public health nurse in Prince Albert who has worked as a case investigator for the last year, working tirelessly to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus and minimize exposure.

Strom and her family were recently invited to the Legislature by NDP leader Ryan Meili to share their story of how they have fared in the first four waves of the pandemic.

The invitation came after she sent letters to every MLA in the province and the Premier in the hopes of getting an in-person meeting to discuss what she and other public health workers have experienced for nearly two years.

“With each wave, what happened is your staff get more tired and more people get sick,” Strom said.

Court proceedings

'The impact of this trauma will echo for generations': court case surrounding La Ronge woman's death reaches conclusion

5h ago

Going Global

P.A.'s Zablocki named to Team Canada for U18 Women's World Championships

5h ago

Election 2024

Birch Hills staff won't share election decision

6h ago

During her stop at the legislature Wednesday morning, she talked about the burnout and fatigue health workers like herself are facing and how they felt helpless when restrictions were lifted in July.

“We didn’t have the vaccine rates that would have been needed to deal with Delta, to open up in the respect that we did with zero restrictions in July,” she said. “Public health staff saw the impact of that starting in August.

“Then we had the huge fourth wave where so many people died and so many people got sick, and it was pretty damaging to everyone involved including the health care staff who felt that there’s nothing we could do because we weren’t given the tools. All we had was vaccination, which takes months to take effect.”

The purpose of her talk in the Legislature was not to point fingers or condemn the provincial government but rather have them hear, firsthand, what front line workers are experiencing and how the province can better prepare for the fifth wave.

“When your front-line health staff, like myself, notice trends, you have to act quicker on putting in measures to mitigate spread and put out clear messaging on expectations,” Strom said. “Giving guidelines to people for Christmas. You’re going to have lots of people travelling and maybe meeting up with family members who are sick or unvaccinated, that’s high risk.”

Strom was finally able to get a meeting with provincial health minister Paul Merriman, where she shared her story and recommendations for future guidelines and health measures.

She did express gratitude that more vaccines are being rolled out and many adults will be eligible for booster shots.

When it comes to the rise of misinformation and combatting anti-vaccination and anti-COVID messages, Strom said it’s gotten harder to deal with because health care workers are so tired.

“People are fearful and then they read stuff that makes that fear or that bias stronger. We need more clear, concise messaging from the top and to not deviate from that whether it’s government or SHA. This vaccine is approved, it’s safe. In the United States, they’ve given millions of doses to kids and it’s gone really well (with) minimal side effects.”

She added the last time a vaccine was scrutinized this much was during the H1N1 Swine Flu pandemic in 2009. Strom said the major difference this time is the increased presence of social media and the ability to share information.

—

derek.craddock@pattisonmedia.com

Twitter: @PA_Craddock