CAF Story - “We could learn more.”
Transcript
Canadian Forces Health Services
Captain Stephanie Smith
It was one of the first shifts that I was the charge nurse, so I was coordinating the patients arriving into the trauma bay and I'd heard that a child was coming in with her father related to an attack.
And I remember us being all very nervous about what we could do, pulling in the team to do the best that we could. Unfortunately, we provided the best care that we could and the little girl didn't make it due to the significant injuries that she had suffered from the improvised explosive device.
It really stood out to me because I knew I'd done a lot of training and that I'd worked really hard to prepare for the deployment as did my peers, but we all felt like that we could learn more and be better prepared to work with children, mentally preparing better to deal with significant injuries like that.
After that deployment, I decided to develop a paediatric training program for the Canadian Armed Forces so that paramedics and nurses like myself could have more training and experience so that we could feel better prepared. Often, hospitals within the army are not developed or prepared to treat children because that's not our primary mandate.
Obviously, the outcome probably wouldn't have changed, but I think overall, I learned a lot about when you find something is not working well in the system, it's your responsibility to take action and advocate to make improvements.
I'm Capt Stephanie Smith and I'm currently a medical student at the University of Calgary. Previously in the military, I was a nursing officer at 1 Canadian Field Hospital.
I've been very fortunate to have three deployments with the Canadian Armed Forces. My first was in 2007 as a generalist nursing officer to Afghanistan and, then again, as a critical care nursing officer in 2009 to Afghanistan. Then I had the opportunity to deploy in 2013 with the Disaster Assistance Response Team to the Philippines in response to Typhoon Haiyan.
I think nursing is always very exciting because no day is the same and I've had many opportunities to have great relationships developed whether in the civilian hospital in Canada or when I've been deployed. I feel for too long in the healthcare field, we have often just been surviving day to day and doing the best that you can, but that doesn't really make you feel excited at the end of the day.
What is empowering is knowing that you're thriving in doing the best that you can and that you go every day making the experience better for your peers, making it better for your patients, and also having the best experience that you can have.
ON SCREEN:
Captain Smith was recognized as one of the top 20 women in defence in April 2019.
The U.S. military has awarded her a medal of achievement for her work in Afghanistan.
I've been very fortunate to have lots of mentors and support along the journey that have allowed me to impact change and make a difference and help lots of people. So, it motivates me to continue doing all the work that I've been doing because I really do feel passionate about helping make the military a better place to work and ensuring that the care we provide around the world is the best that it can be.
ON SCREEN:
Captain Smith’s research in disaster emergency management led to the development of a clinical pediatrics readiness program for the Canadian Military.
The program is now offered at Humber Regional Hospital in Toronto for any military member preparing for deployment.