Inuit Rangers flock to military doctors for quality health care

A mock fuel explosion held Aug. 13 tested the response of Camp Nanook’s health team and firefighters to respond to a disaster. The simulated disaster left two “dead” and eight “injured,” and the team treated the “injured” as if they really were in distress. (PHOTO COURTESY OF COMBAT CAMERA/DND)

A nurse at Camp Nanook treats a Canadian Ranger for “injuries” suffered during an Aug. 13 mock disaster simulation at the camp. (PHOTO COURTESY OF COMBAT CAMERA/DND)

Major Stéphane Roux, the chief physician at the Camp Nanook’s well-equipped health clinic, came to Resolute with a complete medical clinic and boxes of medications. (PHOTO BY JANE GEORGE)

CAMP NANOOK, RESOLUTE BAY — If you happen to be feeling sick, you’ll be in good hands at Camp Nanook, where more than 400 members of the armed forces and Canadian Rangers have lived since Aug. 4, when Operation Nanook started.

In fact, so high a quality of health care is available at the camp that many Canadian Rangers from Nunavut are drawn to the white medical tent on site.

Canadian Rangers are more than twice as likely to come to there than the other members of the military at the camp: although Canadian Rangers make up about 10 per cent of the people at the camp, they account for 25 per cent of those who attend the clinic.

More Nunavut Rangers come to the clinic likely because “they don’t have such a high quality of medical care,” suggests Major Stéphane Roux, the chief physician and head of the clinic.

By Aug. 15, 100 patients had come through the Camp Nanook clinic, equipped with everything found in emergency wards — including doctors and a nurse.

The injuries they have seen include work- or sports-related injuries like twisted ankles and sore backs.

But others, mainly Inuit Canadian Rangers, have come in to see the clinic’s three doctors for more long-term chronic ailments and health complaints.

The chance to see a doctor is appealing: in Resolute Bay, there are two resident nurses — and, because these nurses have been there for years, that community is luckier than most, Roux said.

But a doctor visits the community only rarely.

The Camp Nanook dentist has also been loaded with visits from Nunavut Canadian Rangers who need treatment for painful teeth and gum problems.

The poor health care and dental neglect endured by many Nunavummiut dogs them during this military exercise, where a lot of the emphasis is placed on physical activity and endurance.

One Canadian Ranger from Nunavut was evacuated for more medical exams — the only person to be evacuated so far from the camp.

While in Resolute Bay, Roux and his team of doctors, a nurse and medical technicians have offered their expertise and equipment to the Resolute nursing station, if needed.

At Camp Nanook’s clinic, there’s a tiny ultrasound, a device called an I-Stat, which can test blood, as well as a variety of other specialized medical equipment to deal with problems like heart attacks, respiratory failure, and the bends, which divers may suffer if they come to the surface too quickly.

Several plastic cases hold medicines ranging from cold remedies to antibiotics.

The clinic arrived with everything it needed, and “what we have is what we can play with,” Roux said.

The clinic’s team is trained to cope with an air crash or any other disaster, equipped with everything to keep people alive until they can be evacuated out — “even if that takes three days,” Roux said.

A mock fuel explosion held Aug. 13 tested those capabilities. The simulated disaster left two “dead” and eight “injured,” and the team treated the “injured” as if they really were in distress.

If there was a disaster that left many injured at Camp Nanook, the team would try to save as many people as possible — but this might mean not treating the more severely injured.

“We put our efforts towards the people we can save,” Roux said.

The whole camp would rally during an emergency with a “camp-wide effort to treat the casualties,” he said, and a second tent could be opened to accommodate the injured.

However, there’s no one available at the clinic to perform surgery and there’s no blood available for transfusions other than a “walking blood bank” of blood, which could be taken from others at Camp Nanook, if needed.

And the clinic’s ultrasound machine, although useful to determine whether there’s internal bleeding, can’t see if your appendicitis is ready to burst, and the X-ray equipment at the camp, a dental x-ray, is only good for looking at arms or legs.

For anything more they’d have to travel down to Resolute Bay, which is equipped with an x-ray machine.

The clinic’s medical prevention officer tries to keep everyone healthy to avoid medical crises.

This means checking on things like the temperature of foods and the cleanliness of the food preparation sites to avoid any food-related illness.

The team also keeps statistics on colds and other ailments that could suddenly explode into a full-blown, camp-wide outbreak of illness, one Roux’s worst-case health scenarios.

Roux said he can prescribe medicine to his Canadian Ranger patients for chronic conditions like hypertension, but unfortunately he won’t be able to do any of the follow-up they need.

That responsibility will lie with the nurses in the communities where the Rangers live.

Op Nanook plans to leave its dentist chair in Resolute Bay where it can be used when a dentist comes to town — but Camp Nanook’s dentist, like the medical team, is scheduled to leave the community when the military operation winds down later this month.