Squamish Climbers/Healthcare Workers Talk Daily Life

West coast climbers Mandy Wong, Hailey Van, Vikki Weldon, Melissa Smart, Mandoline Masse-Clark and Michelle LeBlanc talk about their days

April 27th, 2020 by | Posted in News, Routes, West Coast |

The Squamish climbing gym Ground Up has done a number of interviews with local climbers who work in healthcare. Below are interviews with Mandy Wong, Hailey Van, Vikki Weldon, Melissa Smart, Mandoline Masse-Clark and Michelle LeBlanc.

Weldon, one of Canada’s top climbers, said her day looks like this: “Go to work, wash hands, change into scrubs and put on mask and safety glasses, wash hands, learn about another new policy change, wash hands, prepare for the worst and hope for the best, and wash those hands!”

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This next series of features is the same, but different. It focuses on the climbers who are currently projecting our community's health. They are our local heroes and they deserve to be celebrated! It's also a welcomed reminder of the important role we play by staying home and who we're supporting by doing so. First local hero and Ground Up Member is Mandy Wong! @mandible120 ๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐›๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ญ๐จ ๐’๐ช๐ฎ๐š๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ก? The lifestyle….and all the rocks. ๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ซ๐จ๐ฅ๐ž ๐ข๐ง ๐ฅ๐จ๐œ๐š๐ฅ ๐ก๐ž๐š๐ฅ๐ญ๐ก๐œ๐š๐ซ๐ž? ER Nurse ๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ ๐จ๐ญ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ก๐ž๐š๐ฅ๐ญ๐ก๐œ๐š๐ซ๐ž ๐Ÿ๐ข๐ž๐ฅ๐? I remember watching TV when I was a kid (growing up in the 80s/90s), a lot of news and hype about AIDS/HIV, and I remember how sad I felt for the kids that looked so sick on TV. I decided around that time that I wanted to be a Doctor when I grew up so that I could fix people. Highschool rolled along and I realized that I could do just as much for people as a nurse – without going through 10 more years of school! ๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐Ÿ๐š๐ฏ๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐ž ๐ฉ๐š๐ซ๐ญ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐’๐ช๐ฎ๐š๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ก ๐œ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ? I love walking around town and seeing familiar faces, voices that genuinely care about me and my family; I also love that most of us moved here to be closer to nature, we share the desire to be in the mountains, to move our bodies, to feel healthy, and to be happy and present in our world. ๐‚๐š๐ง ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ž ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐š ๐ฌ๐ง๐š๐ฉ๐ฌ๐ก๐จ๐ญ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ฐ๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐š ๐๐š๐ฒ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ค๐ž ๐š๐ญ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค ๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐œ๐ซ๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐ฌ? To be honest, our days have become eerily quiet as we have done countless things to decant the ER so that patients don't stay in the department for any prolonged period of time. Once we have restructured the department, we have been doing a lot of preparing, practicing, anticipating, and getting used to new ways of doing things. We do team simulations almost every day of scenarios where we receive an extremely ill patient – what drugs to give, who stays in the room, we practice with precision on how to put on and take off PPE.. (cont'd in comments)

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We've got a lot of love for our community members who work in healthcare. Thank you all, for all that you do! The next healthcare worker and climber we're featuring is Hailey Van Dyk!@haileyvandyk . ๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐›๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ญ๐จ ๐’๐ช๐ฎ๐š๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ก? All the sports and these beautiful mountains!! . ๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ซ๐จ๐ฅ๐ž ๐ข๐ง ๐ฅ๐จ๐œ๐š๐ฅ ๐ก๐ž๐š๐ฅ๐ญ๐ก๐œ๐š๐ซ๐ž? I am an ER Nurse at our lovely Squamish hospital. . ๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ ๐จ๐ญ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ก๐ž๐š๐ฅ๐ญ๐ก๐œ๐š๐ซ๐ž ๐Ÿ๐ข๐ž๐ฅ๐? I love helping people and being there through their vulnerable moments. The pace of the ER is perfect for my high energy and I love making a difference. . ๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐Ÿ๐š๐ฏ๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐ž ๐ฉ๐š๐ซ๐ญ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐’๐ช๐ฎ๐š๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ก ๐œ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ? The connection I feel with this community is unlike anything Iโ€™ve ever felt before. I love it here so much. . ๐‚๐š๐ง ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ž ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐š ๐ฌ๐ง๐š๐ฉ๐ฌ๐ก๐จ๐ญ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ฐ๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐š ๐๐š๐ฒ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ค๐ž ๐š๐ญ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค ๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐œ๐ซ๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐ฌ? There is a lot of uncertainty and a lot of unknowns. I think that is the most draining part of all of this… we get updates everyday. But our team is amazing and weโ€™ve really come together in a way we hadnโ€™t before and itโ€™s a beautiful thing to see. . ๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐š๐ซ๐ž ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐จ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ญ๐จ ๐ซ๐ž๐ฅ๐ข๐ž๐ฏ๐ž ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐ž๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐ง๐จ๐ฐ? Getting outside as much as I can. . ๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ช๐ฎ๐จ๐ญ๐ž ๐๐จ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฏ๐ž ๐›๐ฒ? This too shall pass…. a big one to get through this time!

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Next local healthcare worker and Ground Up member is Michelle LeBlanc! ๐Ÿ™‚ Thank you Michelle! . ๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐›๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ญ๐จ ๐’๐ช๐ฎ๐š๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ก? Grad school at Simon Fraser University (just got to stay in Squamish because I had amazing friends). . ๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ซ๐จ๐ฅ๐ž ๐ข๐ง ๐ฅ๐จ๐œ๐š๐ฅ ๐ก๐ž๐š๐ฅ๐ญ๐ก๐œ๐š๐ซ๐ž? Activity Worker / Recreation at Hilltop House . ๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ ๐จ๐ญ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ก๐ž๐š๐ฅ๐ญ๐ก๐œ๐š๐ซ๐ž ๐Ÿ๐ข๐ž๐ฅ๐? Ultimately, it came down to a combination of life, work and education experiences. The older adults that I currently work with have such awesome stories and insights to share with me, which makes me feel extremely lucky! It is an honour for me to hear about the residents' life stories, share a laugh with them, and learn about how they have contributed to this community, especially some of our First Nation residents. . ๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐Ÿ๐š๐ฏ๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐ž ๐ฉ๐š๐ซ๐ญ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐’๐ช๐ฎ๐š๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ก ๐œ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ? I really enjoy the sense of adventure and camaraderie that happens naturally in Squamish. People seem to look out after each other and that is not always easy to find! There are some rad people who live here that have really inspired me in my life & adventure pursuits. . ๐‚๐š๐ง ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ž ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐š ๐ฌ๐ง๐š๐ฉ๐ฌ๐ก๐จ๐ญ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ฐ๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐š ๐๐š๐ฒ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ค๐ž ๐š๐ญ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค ๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐œ๐ซ๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐ฌ? From the beginning of this crisis our main goal has been to maintain a positive quality of life for the residents.We have had to adapt the way we do activities to help keep the 86 residents engaged at Hilltop House. A typical day would include a mobile coffee cart with soul, funk & disco music blasting through the hallways on my mini speaker. We have been connecting family members with their loved ones through Facetime, Skype or Zoom. We also do lots of mobile trivia games, dance parties, small group exercises in our courtyards, mobile happy hour and mini sing-alongs. . ๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐š๐ซ๐ž ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐จ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ญ๐จ ๐ซ๐ž๐ฅ๐ข๐ž๐ฏ๐ž ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐ž๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐ง๐จ๐ฐ? Trail running has been an amazing stress relief strategy for me. I am doing the @caprarunning April challenge (thanks Mike!), but…(cont'd in comments)

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Next local healthcare hero and climber, Mandoline Masse-Clark ๐Ÿ™‚ Here are her answers: ๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐›๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ญ๐จ ๐’๐ช๐ฎ๐š๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ก? Climbing!!! . ๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ซ๐จ๐ฅ๐ž ๐ข๐ง ๐ฅ๐จ๐œ๐š๐ฅ ๐ก๐ž๐š๐ฅ๐ญ๐ก๐œ๐š๐ซ๐ž? Iโ€™m a registered nurse at Lions Gate emergency dept :). My main role currently is charge. Itโ€™s in the ER. . ๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ ๐จ๐ญ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ก๐ž๐š๐ฅ๐ญ๐ก๐œ๐š๐ซ๐ž ๐Ÿ๐ข๐ž๐ฅ๐? There were many reasons, but ultimately I was interested in the field, and attracted to the schedule! It was a bit of a risk but turned out to be a perfect fit. I love my job! . ๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐Ÿ๐š๐ฏ๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐ž ๐ฉ๐š๐ซ๐ญ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐’๐ช๐ฎ๐š๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ก ๐œ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ? Just that-the community!! I feel so at home and supported here; from climbing to motherhood, this community has supported me throughout! . ๐‚๐š๐ง ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ž ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐š ๐ฌ๐ง๐š๐ฉ๐ฌ๐ก๐จ๐ญ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ฐ๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐š ๐๐š๐ฒ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ค๐ž ๐š๐ญ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค ๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐œ๐ซ๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐ฌ? Honestly, these are the quietest and yet most stressful shifts of my career. Numbers are low, but risk is high, and we just donโ€™t know enough about Covid-19 to be 100% confident that things wonโ€™t change, including how we keep ourselves safe at work. Thatโ€™s really stressful. . ๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐š๐ซ๐ž ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐จ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ญ๐จ ๐ซ๐ž๐ฅ๐ข๐ž๐ฏ๐ž ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐ž๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐ง๐จ๐ฐ? I am trying to do one hour of exercise a day. A run, some sort of home workout, yoga… whatever calls to me, but I force it even if I donโ€™t want to. That, and I eat more chocolate! Haha! Honestly though, at least I have my work family to debrief with, in some ways, that has been such a lifesaver. I feel for people who canโ€™t see anyone face to face at all. . ๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ช๐ฎ๐จ๐ญ๐ž ๐๐จ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฏ๐ž ๐›๐ฒ? Itโ€™s cheesy but someone posted a quote that says โ€œToday the devil whispered in my ear: โ€œyour not strong enough to withstand the stormโ€ And I whispered โ€œ6 feet back mother*$#&erโ€. Whenever I get scared, I whisper to myself โ€œ6 feet back mother*$&#erโ€. It actually helps!

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Hope everyone had a good weekend! We have a couple more healthcare workers in our climbing community who have allowed us to feature them. Next is Vikki Weldon. Thank you, Vikki! ๐Ÿ™‚ . ๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐›๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ญ๐จ ๐’๐ช๐ฎ๐š๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ก? The ideal of small town living and accessible world class rock climbing wrapped up in a perfect package. . ๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ซ๐จ๐ฅ๐ž ๐ข๐ง ๐ฅ๐จ๐œ๐š๐ฅ ๐ก๐ž๐š๐ฅ๐ญ๐ก๐œ๐š๐ซ๐ž? I am a registered nurse at Lion's Gate Hospital in the Emergency Department . ๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐Ÿ๐š๐ฏ๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐ž ๐ฉ๐š๐ซ๐ญ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐’๐ช๐ฎ๐š๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ก ๐œ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ? It was the rock that attracted me to Squamish, but it's people are the reason I stay. . ๐‚๐š๐ง ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ž ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐š ๐ฌ๐ง๐š๐ฉ๐ฌ๐ก๐จ๐ญ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ฐ๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐š ๐๐š๐ฒ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ค๐ž ๐š๐ญ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค ๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐œ๐ซ๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐ฌ? Go to work, wash hands, change into scrubs and put on mask and safety glasses, wash hands, learn about another new policy change, wash hands, prepare for the worst and hope for the best, and wash those hands! . ๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐š๐ซ๐ž ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐จ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ญ๐จ ๐ซ๐ž๐ฅ๐ข๐ž๐ฏ๐ž ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐ž๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐ง๐จ๐ฐ? I've started taking online yoga classes, walk my dog on the local trails, and have a puzzle on the go! . ๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ช๐ฎ๐จ๐ญ๐ž ๐๐จ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฏ๐ž ๐›๐ฒ? Right now, lot's of mixed emotions…."That's the way the world goes 'round. You're up one day and the next you're down" – John Prine

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Local healthcare hero features continue with Melissa Smart! Thank you to Melissa and all our healthcare workers.. we appreciate you! . ๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐›๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ญ๐จ ๐’๐ช๐ฎ๐š๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ก? Lifestyle . ๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ซ๐จ๐ฅ๐ž ๐ข๐ง ๐ฅ๐จ๐œ๐š๐ฅ ๐ก๐ž๐š๐ฅ๐ญ๐ก๐œ๐š๐ซ๐ž? Register Nurse . ๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ ๐จ๐ญ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ข๐ง๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐ก๐ž๐š๐ฅ๐ญ๐ก๐œ๐š๐ซ๐ž ๐Ÿ๐ข๐ž๐ฅ๐? My Mom!โค๏ธ . ๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐Ÿ๐š๐ฏ๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐ž ๐ฉ๐š๐ซ๐ญ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐’๐ช๐ฎ๐š๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ก ๐œ๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ? There has been so much generosity shown to the nurses. The 7 oโ€™clock parade at the hospital is so heartwarming. . ๐‚๐š๐ง ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ž ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐š ๐ฌ๐ง๐š๐ฉ๐ฌ๐ก๐จ๐ญ ๐จ๐Ÿ ๐ฐ๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐š ๐๐š๐ฒ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ค๐ž ๐š๐ญ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค ๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐œ๐ซ๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐ฌ? Itโ€™s more about the unknown and the fear. . ๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐š๐ซ๐ž ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐จ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ญ๐จ ๐ซ๐ž๐ฅ๐ข๐ž๐ฏ๐ž ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐ž๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐ง๐จ๐ฐ? I have been enjoying the sunshine! I feel very grateful for the social distancing space we are so fortunate for. . ๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ช๐ฎ๐จ๐ญ๐ž ๐๐จ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฏ๐ž ๐›๐ฒ? STAY THE Fxxx Home!

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