A paramedic from Victoria recently returned home from a trip to Jamaica where he paved the way for other health-care professionals from Canada to go in and help ease some suffering left in Hurricane Melissa’s wake. After the devastating storm made landfall in southwestern Jamaica on Oct. 28, the country, as well as neighbouring Cuba, Haiti and other Caribbean nations, saw significant damage and multiple deaths and injuries. Weeks later, the aftermath is still being felt as work continues to repair key infrastructure and return power to communities. Andrew Mills has been a paramedic for 15 years. He currently works in Victoria as an advanced care paramedic and serves as the disaster response manager for BC Emergency Health Services. While this was his first time working with Canadian Medical Assistance Teams (CMAT), which provides disaster relief with volunteer health professionals, it was not his first time doing humanitarian work, including two stints in Ukraine in 2022 and 2023. After arriving in Montego Bay on Nov. 17, Mills and the CMAT team set up at Cornwall Regional Hospital. Mills said his role on the trip was logistics – setting up safety, security, transportation, the clinical setting and more for the team of nurses and doctors arriving to help care for patients for the rest of November, and into December. After arriving in Montego Bay on Nov. 17, Andrew Mills and the CMAT team set up at Cornwall Regional Hospital. (Photo courtesy of CMAT) [https://vancouverislandfreedaily.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/11/40987695_web1_20251125-vne-VicParamedic-Jamaica-andrew_3.jpg] Steps from the emergency room, CMAT has its tent set up with all the things you would expect in an urgent or primary care clinic here in B.C., Mills explained. People are being seen by triage staff, and if deemed lower acuity, those patients are being sent to the CMAT tent for further diagnosis and treatment, taking a huge amount of pressure off the hospital. Cornwall had its power and water disrupted for several weeks following the hurricane, with staff operating on what was essentially a mass-casualty response. Multiple people were being turned away due to being over capacity. “The situation was pretty dire, but the tireless nurses and doctors at Cornwall Regional Hospital have been working around the clock to treat patients and try and return their operations to normal,” said Mills. “As a paramedic who has worked all over B.C. and served 10 years in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, and has worked through the opioid crisis, through COVID-19 and through multiple mass-casualty events, the overwhelming impact on the hospital is something I’ve never experienced in my entire life.” The country is currently dealing with a deadly leptospirosis outbreak, which has claimed several lives. The disease is spread through contact with water, soil or food contaminated by urine from infected animals, and outbreaks can occur following heavy rainfall or flooding. CMAT explained that, while the immediate physical injuries caused by a storm like this are generally not major, the weeks after can bring major concerns around communicable diseases like cholera and dengue fever, as well as chronic disease management. With destroyed homes and infrastructure, people who live in crowded shelters are exposed to infections, but if they opt to remain outside shelters, they can still be affected by the elements. “People with chronic illnesses may have lost their medication and assistive devices in the storm. And of course, babies needing to be born will wait for no one,” the organization said. The devastating storm made landfall in southwestern Jamaica on Oct. 28, causing widespread power outages and significant damage to key infrastructure. (Photo courtesy of CMAT) [https://vancouverislandfreedaily.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/11/40987695_web1_20251125-vne-VicParamedic-Jamaica-andrew_2.jpg] “It was very challenging… I mean the entire country was affected by this hurricane. If not directly hit, then certainly had family, friends, etc., that were impacted. There’s a lot of devastation in the western part of the country, with homelessness right now being a major issue faced by everyday Jamaicans.” The incoming CMAT team was prepared to camp out in the hospital tents, however, they ended up being welcomed at a local hostel, alongside other essential workers like the Jamaican Public Service employees who are there en masse trying to restore power. The hostel itself did not have power, however, Mills said it had running water, and they were extremely grateful to the owners for giving them a place to stay. As for Cornwall hospital staff, Mills said even as they work tirelessly, many are doing so while facing their own challenges. “Homelessness was being faced by the clinical staff at the hospital – who were coming to work their shifts, but were returning to either a shelter or a friend’s place overnight,” Mills recalled. One of the most impactful parts of the trip was seeing the “widespread human suffering,” but also the warmth, kindness and resilience of the Jamaican people. “Once we put up the Canadian flags on the tents at the hospital, we had a surge in people coming by to see what we were doing, and just to thank us – just to pop in their head and say, ‘Thank you, to you and to Canada, for being here and supporting us in this difficult time’,” said Mills. “We get to come home to Canada at the end of our rotation… but, despite our impact there, the recovery is going to be a long road measured in months and years for Jamaica, and truly the work has just begun. I’m quite proud of the work CMAT is doing, but the people of Jamaica are going to need beyond this first phase of initial intervention.” Mills added that CMAT [https://cmat.ca/]is currently fundraising for the ability to send a third rotation of people to Jamaica to help out, as they’ve been asked to extend their time there for as long as possible.
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