Working as a Logistics Response Manager for the Canadian Red Cross, Breanne Jury has a special appreciation for each of the components that make humanitarian responses possible. Take, for example, the emergency health clinic, which is made up of an array of equipment modules that enable assessment, treatment, and day-to-day health services for communities in need.
Since beginning as a warehouse intern with the Canadian Red Cross two years ago, Breanne has worked behind the scenes to make sure that emergency equipment like the clinic is ready to deploy at short notice. This background work paved the way for Breanne to be successful in her recent deployment to Honduras, where she supported the setup and operation of the clinic in the wake of two devastating hurricanes.
For Breanne, the deployment marked a full-circle moment and affirmed the importance of her work.
“I’ve spent the past two years preparing, packing, kitting, and maintaining the clinic,” Breanne said. “It was a real privilege to be able to go out and see it in action.”
Between November 2020 and February 2021, the clinic operated in La Lima, Honduras, about 250 kilometers north of the capital, Tegucigalpa. The clinic was set up after Hurricanes Eta and Iota made landfall. These hurricanes, separated by less than two weeks, caused heavy rains and floods, and damaged infrastructure, homes, and crops. The storms impacted millions of people in Central America.
At the request of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, a team of Canadian Red Cross humanitarian aid workers was quickly on the ground. The team worked with the Honduran Red Cross and the Honduran Ministry of Health to set up and operate an emergency clinic. Breanne was part of the team sent as a logistics support aide. Part of her role was to travel on the cargo plane along with the clinic and supplies to ensure they arrived safely.
She says the damage left by the hurricanes was initially jarring. “I was expecting to see the aftermath, but I don’t think I was prepared to see the streets still flooded up to people’s waists and a strong current in the water washing up the roads,” Breanne said.
Breanne helped to set up the clinic and made sure a local warehouse was able to store all the equipment they would need for the operation. Just making sure that each of the 140 pallets worth of equipment sent to Honduras made it to the local warehouse was a feat. From there, technicians and medical teams communicated on-site priorities, so that Breanne’s team could organize transport of the items onto the clinic site. With support from the Honduran Red Cross, Breanne organized the local procurement of fans, latrines, fencing, and security.
“It was truly a partnership between the two Societies — the entire planning of the site was done with both the Canadian and Honduran Red Cross.”
She says the clinic was welcomed by the community and her team was encouraged by the ability of the Honduran Red Cross to organize its volunteers.
“The first day, they provided more than a dozen volunteers on-site at by 9 a.m. who were ready to work in extreme heat to get the clinic up and running as quickly as possible,” Breanne said.
For Breanne, honouring these contributions made the response more rewarding.
“This speaks to how people see the Red Cross in their community — a catalyst for giving back and a catalyst for helping themselves. We are there to promote reciprocity in the community.”
The clinic closed on February 13
th, following the reopening local medical facilities. More than 3,700 people were helped at the clinic site with treatment for common infections, chronic diseases, minor trauma and wounds, basic prenatal care, and psychosocial support. Where possible, equipment from the health clinic has been handed over to the Honduran Red Cross and local health facilities.