Killam Health Centre dofficers

Katelyn Armstrong, Corrine Volk, Debbie Hagen, Kelby Erickson, Melody Sheedy, Merriane Niehaus, Rhonda Nickerson, Ruby Venema, Serena Klatt, Shauna Ross, Susan Harris, Wendy Doran, Christee Langkamp

When Killam Health Centre experienced a COVID-19 outbreak in October 2021, several staff answered the call to serve as dofficers. These 13 dofficers received specific training in donning and doffing so they could support their colleagues.

The dofficers were staff from a variety of roles: screeners, acute health care aides, unit clerks, recreational therapy, housekeepers, stores attendants, and kitchen staff. With each dofficer having their own diverse working background, they eagerly kept every isolation area in each of the 50 resident rooms stocked with necessary isolation supplies, emptied each garbage and laundry bag up to three times a shift, ran for supplies for the staff in the residents’ rooms when they were unable to come out, and helped with meal tray delivery and set-up for residents. There were no limits on what they would do for all of the residents and staff. 

During a full month of being on outbreak, the dofficers were given a task that they were unfamiliar with and they came together as leaders from every different department in the hospital. Within a few days of starting up the dofficer role, they proved to be creative and resourceful, creating an incredible team that played a key role in preventing spread of COVID-19 within Killam continuing care.

Each one of them had creative perspectives that were shared and implemented to bring together a safe and efficient environment within a short time period that proved to lead frontline staff and residents forward safely.