DON’S FOOD MARKET VIDEO SURFACES
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STUDENTS FACE NEW REALITY
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Serving Tavistock and area since 1895 VOLUME 124 • NUMBER 34
TAVISTOCK, ONTARIO, WEDNESDAY, MAY 27, 2020
CO
ONLINE EDITION
TO EDUCATE & PROTECT
VID
-19 WEEK 11
MAIN STREET A Quick Look at Our Town THIS ‘N’ THAT This past weekend was sunny and warm - social distancing at the local garden centres was challenging - hot, humid weather predicted for most of this week … remember the Bottle Drive this Saturday, May 30th in support of the Tavistock Minor Hockey and the Tavistock Royals . . . Canada’s Covid-19 numbers are at 85,998 with Ontario's number at 26,191 remember to stay the course and keep up with physical distancing, hand washing and wearing a face mask when distancing difficult - Ontario is beginning to allow more businesses to open with specific guidelines … thank you is extended to all our local businesses who are working hard to keep our community going with the essentials - thank you also to the frontline healthcare workers who are fighting against this virus - all are truly appreciated!
BIRTHDAYS & ANNIVERSARIES Ellie Green is one year old May 27th; Reid Harold is 5; Lindsay Vanderhyden, 12; Nicole Danen, 16; anniversaries for Murray and Barb Roth, 42nd; Nathan and Amy Yantzi, 3rd … on May 28th Cole Mosburger is 8; Kenneth Wilhelm, 18; Hope Albrecht, 19; birthdays also for Katelyn Wagler; Angie Wettlaufer … Claire Yantzi is 17 May 29th; Mia Kurzatz, 18; a 16th wedding anniversary for Kris and Krista Matthews . . . on May 30th Carter Cook is 9; Arielle McGregor, 13; Grace Bender, 16; a 28th wedding anniversary for James and Bonnie Kropf … Karsen Ankenmann is 18 May 31st; a birthday for Jessica Clemmer … on June 2nd Evelyn Kalbfleisch is 6; Mac Alexander, 16. Congratulations to all and this year's celebrations will be some for the history books!
CLANG YOUR POTS! in support of our frontline workers Every night at 7:30 p.m.
These video messages became her outlet ...
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- Kristina Hyde, RN
PHOTOS / CONTRIBUTED
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t takes a special kind of person to become a nurse. It takes an even more special nurse to bare her soul in a public forum; but that’s what Kristina Hyde has done. A cardiac nurse at St. Mary’s Hospital in Kitchener for the past 13 years, Kristina first turned to Facebook video posts to try and educate and protect people from the threat of COVID-19. She spoke with a cardiologist at St. Mary’s Hospital at the outset of the pandemic to learn what was coming and was surprised by the response she received. He said he was willing to die rather than leave any patient untreated. ‘If it’s my time to go I will except that,’ he told her. “It was not the answer I was expecting,” she said. “These doctors and all the other health care workers care and are willing to sacrifice themselves. These people are so selfless; they’re willing to die to help people,” she added. “These are the people that I work with and I’m so damn proud,” she said. It was through that conversation that Kristina began her video messages to her friends and family. She first asked everyone to be socially responsible by keeping their distance and following government guidelines. “We need to be responsible to each other,” she said. In another video, she demonstrated hand washing and was surprised and humbled when one friend wrote back saying that when she asked her young daughter if she had washed her hands, she replied, “Yes I did Mommy, just like Kristina showed me.” This kind of message, especially during a pandemic, always makes more sense when you can get the information from someone you know and trust. Kristina’s mother, Mary Lou, is a Registered
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Nurse who was working at Stratford General Hospital for many years in the emergency department, day surgery and recovery unit. Kristina always knew she too wanted to work in the health care field, so after graduating from Waterloo-Oxford District Secondary School, she enrolled in the Registered Nurses’ Program at Conestoga College. She took an extra cardiac course at the end of her studies and was hired by Stratford General Hospital to work part-time in the cardiac ward and intensive care unit beginning in 2002. In January of 2007, she took on another part-time job at St. Mary’s General Hospital in Kitchener in the Cardiac Catheterization department. In 2009, she ended her work in Stratford and stayed on at St. Mary’s where she is currently sharing hours in the diagnostic day clinic and radiology as well as doing outpatient procedures. When the COVID-19 pandemic was announced and hospitals were preparing for patients, Kristina started noticing that while most people were being responsible, many weren’t. “I wish I could social distance, but (because of her work) I can’t,” she said. “I’m terrified of bringing it home to my husband and my son.” In the hospital, staff are screened every day before they are allowed in to work. Kristina has never exhibited any symptoms, nor has she been tested for COVID-19 thus far. “I actually feel really good about going to work,” she said, where everyone is going by the rules. “I’m more comfortable with that than going into the grocery store.” The most difficult thing to get used to in their hospital work is remembering the proper procedure for a Covid Code Blue. Before COVID-19, everyone would rush into the patient’s room, like a fireman running toward the fire. Now, you have to make sure you are wearing the proper Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) before entering; for your own safety. This creates a slower response time and can mean a delay in treatment. But staff is getting more comfortable with the procedures now, learning what PPE is right for what situation. (continued on page 4)