** Guest blog by Katie Kallio, Information and Reporting Delegate in Haiti. Katie is part of the team working in the new Canadian Red Cross field hospital.
It’s 10:30 at night, and as I lay in my tent I can hear some of my colleagues doing rounds and checking in on our 21 patients.
Canadian Red Cross delegate, Danielle Levesque
My colleague Danielle Levesque is one of the voices still up. Danielle is the head nurse on our team and is working closely with nurses from the community to care for patients around the clock. This is Danielle's second time to Haiti - the first, was immediately after the earthquake.
Today, a child was admitted to the hospital in critical condition. She was classified in the most severe of cholera cases and truthfully, the team wasn't sure if she was going to make it. After a few hours of careful attention from the medical team, Danielle emerged from the tent and with a big smile told us the child was sitting up, talking and smiling.
If you ask Danielle she will tell you this little girl will survive because she was able to access treatment quickly - but what she won't admit is the incredible role she played in saving a life.
What Danielle is too humble to admit we all already know - it takes a very special person to do what she does.
The nurses on our team are working in a context of tremendous need, with limited resources and when they switch shifts to get some rest they are sleeping in tents only a few feet away. It is a job that requires tremendous skill, incredible dedication and an extraordinary humanitarian spirit.
This is why, in addition to supporting top-notch equipment for the field hospital, the Government of Canada is helping us build our human resources capacities - so that someone special like Danielle will be there the next time next someone needs their help.