Shooting gallery Senior B lacrosse team rolled
the shot clock around in win over North Shore.
www.nanaimobulletin.com
TUESDAY, JUNE 23, 2015
VOL. 27, NO. 13
Nurse remembers patients’ strength
I
TOOLKIT HELPS identify signs of human trafficking.
BY TAMARA CUNNINGHAM THE NEWS BULLETIN
Intricate black Sanskrit runs down Aimee Falkenberg’s left forearm, a tattoo tribute for 210 sexually assaulted, abused or trafficked men, women and children and all those who will come after. A forensic nurse in Nanaimo and Surrey, Falkenberg has examined dozens of people experiencing the worst days of their lives, such as 15-yearold girls who wake at a party, pants gone, with no memory of the last five hours. Sex trade workers who weren’t listened to when they said no and men who were assaulted but faced the stigma of no one believing them. With a read of her medical legal report, she can remember every single one. Maybe not the colour of their hair or earrings or even the clothing they were wearing, but she remembers their souls. Their stories are heart wrenching and yet those people would stand in front of her, give her a hug and walk out. “Sometimes I’d drive home crying and try to figure out, like where does this strength come from?” she said, looking down at the inked answer on her arm: strength comes from an indomitable will.
CHRIS BUSH/THE NEWS BULLETIN
Aimee Falkenberg, a forensic nurse at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital, has tattoos in Sanskrit that read “strength” and “Strength comes from an indomitable will.”
“They just have the strength within them that they have no idea they had.” It’s just minutes after noon on Monday. Falkenberg has finished her shift at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital’s emergency department and takes a seat on a shaded concrete step nearby, her crisp white lab coat resting on a purse beside her. Nanaimo
is where some patients will arrive to have a forensic nurse assure them their body is OK. That they aren’t pregnant, or have a sexually transmitted infection and where they’ll have the choice between having forensic evidence collected and stored at the hospital so they can file police report later, or give one immediately. They are of all ages and genders and have
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stories of violence that span elder abuse to sexual assault and intimate partner violence. Falkenberg, one of nine forensic nurses in Nanaimo, is trained to be their documenter and a link between medical care and the judicial system, taking meticulous notes, measurements, swabs and catalogue of bruises, abrasions and lesions. It’s a long process, taking up to six hours, but she’s honoured to sit there and listen to her patients’ stories, she said – and always she tells them how proud she is they are doing the examination. Falkenberg got her start as a forensic nurse at Surrey Memorial Hospital in 2008, but began working as a casual in Nanaimo two years ago when her family moved to the Island. The program in this city is more than a decade old and sees just over 100 patients annually. NRGH alone saw 60 in the last fiscal year, an increase from the year previous, according to Carrie Homuth, regional manager of trauma services. Island Health is considering using a new toolkit, the first of its kind in Canada and co-created by Falkenberg, to help health providers recognize trafficked patients. She developed it with two colleagues during her time at Surrey Memorial, recognizing many patients were showing red flags of human trafficking. She sees those same flags in Nanaimo, mostly with teens 14 to 19 years old. See ‘NURSE’ /6
Crews contain wildfire west of Mount Benson BY MELISSA FRYER THE NEWS BULLETIN
A wildfire burning west of Nanaimo was 70 per cent contained as of Monday morning, according to the Coastal Fire Centre. Firefighting crews responded to the Boomerang Lake fire shortly after it broke out Saturday. On Monday, 41 crew members and two helicopters were assigned to the blaze, burning about two ridges west of Mount Benson, said Donna MacPherson, fire information officer. No homes or structures are threatened by the fire. The cause of the fire, which is estimated to be about 6.5 hectares in size, is still under investigation, but is expected to be found to be human-caused as no lightning was recorded in the area, said MacPherson. “It’s incredibly dry,” MacPherson said. “We’re several weeks ahead of where we normally are for this time of year.” The fire danger rating for the area is high to extreme. “Cedar south seems TO REPORT a wildfire, to be a dry spot,” please call 1-800MacPherson said. 663-5555 or *5555 People using the on most cellular backcountry should networks. exercise extreme caution and limit activity which might spark a wildfire, such as smoking and using ATVs, vehicles or equipment in grassy or dry areas. Cigarettes should be extinguished in water, such as a water bottle. A campfire ban is being considered for the coastal fire area and a decision would be made late Monday whether to implement one, MacPherson said. Campfires must be kept to a half-metre by half-metre in size and must be fully extinguished, which means cold to the touch, before leaving the campsite. “That doesn’t mean a party fire or a bonfire,” MacPherson said. For updates on the fire and possible campfire bans, please check www.bcwildfire.ca. To report a wildfire, call 1-800-663-5555 or *5555 on most cellular networks.
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