Our Global Grants Graduate Scholar, Garrette Milne has Taken a position in Canada.
David Dean has introduced Garrette to Wade Garrison, a member of the Halifax Harbourside Rotary Club, who has attended several of our E-Club online meetings.
Here follows a copy of the comunications.
Hi, Garrett -- I would like to introduce you to Wade Garrison, a member of the Halifax Harbourside Rotary Club, who has attended several of our E-Club online meetings.
And, Hi, Wade! I would like to introduce you to Garrett Milne, who was a Rotary Global Grant Graduate Scholar studying in Sydney a couple of years ago, sponsored by the E-Club.
Garrett has just moved to Halifax in the last week. He would be an inspirational guest speaker at any Rotary Club!
I hope you two can make contact in Halifax!
Garrett left Australia after completing his Masters Degree just before the pandemic hit, moving to England. He reports:
I was working in a hospital in the north of the UK in a city called Sheffield. It is one of the largest hospitals and also services a large population. As an emergency planning officer at the hospital, I was involved with ensuring the hospital was responding effectively and efficiently to Covid-19. This involved a lot of skills in hospital management.
Because of Covid, we were having to move and change wards rapidly to ensure there was enough red capacity (covid positive) in the hospital. Covid patients were almost covering 30% of the total beds of the hospital at the peak (1800 bed hospital). It was then trying to balance the capacity of Blue Wards (covid secure wards, negative patients for surgeries) so that the hospital could continue to manage its caseload. Add in the move to remote working for large parts of the hospital, issues with PPE, and other emergencies that came up, it was an eye opening opportunity.
I also had the pleasure of working on the mass vaccination plan for the hospital as well, which was a very positive project to work on. The hospital had delivered thousands of doses by the middle of February to both staff and vulnerable patients.
I have been offered a job in Canada and have moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia!
The job is still related to Covid - I'll be at Indigenous Services Canada as a Health Emergency Management Coordinator. I'll be working with the First Nations Communities in the four Atlantic provinces of Canada to help them in their Covid response and recovery, one aspect of which is another mass vaccination plan.
However, selfishly, one of the benefits is being able to move back home to Canada. Today is just my second day, which has largely consisted of IT issues thus far, so not much of an update but I am very much looking forward to it.
Please keep us posted on how things are going in Nova Scotia! Australia continues to be very lucky with the pandemic. We have had zero cases in New South Wales for over a month, and the vaccines are just now starting a slow rollout.
Best regards,
David