We are IH: Unit clerk loves being part of her remote community

Growing up as a child of an RCMP officer, April was exposed to the reality and honesty of the world from a young age. At 15, she was already doing first responder work with the registered nurses in her community. 

After obtaining first aid certifications, April took a job with RCMP Victim Services. She went on to work for a provincial non-profit organization and helped bridge the digital divide in remote First Nations communities. In her role, she also focused on film and song recordings to carry on traditional stories.

April moved back home to Tatla Lake after having her first child. Upon her return, she joined the West Chilcotin Health Centre as a unit clerk. Here, she’s been able to use the skills—including singing—she has acquired over the years to help serve her community.

“I was classically trained as a first soprano from five years old and spent many years singing,” April explains. “I now use my singing skills for wee ones who come to our clinic and critical patients who are scared and request some comfort.”

There are no typical days at West Chilcotin Health Centre. The clinic offers services ranging from public health to emergency care.

Often described as periods of calm followed by hours of madness, the health centre can go from having a single patient visiting the lab to having someone with a traumatic injury come in the doors. What might normally require a six- to seven-person response team must be handled by the small but mighty team of three at West Chilcotin Health Centre.

A great example of this teamwork—and one of April’s most memorable moments at IH—is how her team and her community came together during the 2017 wildfires.

“The raging wildfires had us boxed in on either side and communities had limited egress to evacuate,” recalls April. “Not only did our staff rally together but our community lifted us up. We moved our entire clinic (with permission from IH) to our local community hall and ran it from there to provide access to care for the people battling the fires. The resilience of our team and commitment to our community are boundless—and our community returns it to us 100-fold.”

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