By Dave Dormer
Calgary Sun
Copyright 2008 Calgary Sun
CALGARY, Alberta — For the next two months a local paramedic will use the skills he’s gained helping Calgarians to provide humanitarian assistance to people in southeast Asia.
Cpl. Alasdair Robertson-More, 23, also a medic with 15 Field Ambulance in the Canadian Army, is one of three Calgary soldiers from the unit leaving Wednesday for Pearl Harbour, where they will board the United States Naval Ship Mercy, bound for a four-month tour of the Philippines and Vietnam.
Also making the trip from Calgary are fellow medics Cpl. Neil Brine and Cpl. Christine Chan. A converted oil tanker, the Mercy has been turned into a floating hospital, complete with 1,000 regular, 50 emergency and 80 intensive care unit beds as well as a surgical ward, dental lab and X-ray facility.
The ship’s crew will be about 1,200 strong.
During the deployment — Robertson-More’s first with a navy contingent — he will work to help the local population of those countries deal with medical issues they either can’t get care for or can’t afford.
“A lot of it will be the things you would see your family doctor about,” he said.
“Good family medicine and public health initiatives can make all the difference for these people.”
It’s expected to take a week for the Mercy to reach Guam, where they will spend a few days relaxing before heading to the Philippines for two 14-day missions.
Following that, they will move on to Vietnam to spend another two weeks helping people there.
The group will then fly home from Singapore, being replaced by another contingent of Canadian soldiers.
“The ship’s tour is four months, but to try and maximize the number of people who will get this opportunity, the Canadian forces divided it into two.”
In the army for nine years, Robertson-More is no stranger to helping people in other countries.
Along with completing a six-month tour of Bosnia with NATO forces in 2003, he also travelled to Jamaica in 2007 with a group of Canadian army engineers to work on infrastructure projects for that country’s armed forces.
The past two summers have also seen him complete Air National Guard exercises with American forces in Wisconsin.
“I’ve just always liked helping other people,” he said on what draws him to such adventures.