WABASEEMOONG, Ont. - A First Nation community in Northwestern Ontario experiencing an alarming spike in COVID-19 cases is receiving much needed assistance from a veteran-led team and specially trained volunteers.
Team Rubicon, a veteran-led disaster relief organization, will be departing from Winnipeg on Friday for Wabaseemoong Independent Nations, which has been under lockdown for more than a week after a surge of COVID-19 cases.
“The community members we are going to be taking over from, they are basically at a point of exhaustion and that is where we will be stepping in and helping out,” said Eric Goodwin, national incident management team lead with Team Rubicon.
As of Thursday, there are 82 active cases of COVID-19 in the Kenora region of the Northwestern Health Unit catchment area. Wabaseemoong is located northwest of Kenora and public health officials do not reveal specific locations of cases, but there are reports there could be as many as 59 cases in the community.
The Provincial Emergency Operations Centre received a request for assistance and Team Rubicon, as a non-government organization, which is part of the emergency response system, agreed to assist and has been planning for the operation for last several days.
“What makes us unique as an NGO is the fact that with most of the people being veterans, we are very quick to respond and used to working in austere conditions,” Goodwin said. “We fill this gap between the conventional aid arrival to a disaster. Generally there is a lag time involved there and we are able to fill that gap.”
Volunteers with Team Rubicon consist of veterans, emergency first responders, and specially trained volunteers. A team of 13 volunteers, known as Greyshirts, will be in the community for two weeks to provide assistance during the lockdown.
“The current request is that they have community members who are distributing provisions, water, food, firewood,” Goodwin said. “The community is in a COVID lockdown due to the outbreak so we are being sent in to provide respite for the people working under these extraordinary conditions.”
“The one thing we make clear is we are not there to take over, we are there to work with community members and municipalities and provide that assistance.”
Team Rubicon has already assisted remote First Nation communities in the north, including Neskantaga First Nation during the ongoing water crisis and a team is currently in Muskrat Dam First Nation providing assistance.
This will be the first operation involving a COVID-19 outbreak and Goodwin said the team is prepared and taking all necessary precautions.
“We will not be dealing directly with the community,” he said. “We have a plan in place that we will remain isolated from community members. Our processes are very strict to ensure we are not bringing the virus in nor is there any kind of transmission between our volunteers or community members.”
Goodwin added it is also important for the team to build trust and be aware of the cultural needs in the communities.
“The onus is on us to develop that trust. We do have meetings with the chief and elders if possible and community members themselves,” he said. “We put in a tremendous effort to try and develop the trust from the outset. That part is critical.”
“We have been able to develop trust with community members and move that forward. From all of the feedback we have received from our volunteers, it has been very rewarding experience to work with Canada’s Indigenous population.”
The situation in the community will be assessed on a daily basis and the operation will be extended if required.
