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On July 8, 2024, a wave of explosions struck Kyiv, Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih, and Sloviansk in Ukraine. Okhmatdyt Children’s Hospital, the largest pediatrics facility in Ukraine, was partially destroyed. The Centre for Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery, located inside Okhmatdyt Children’s Hospital, was also impacted.

I had just signed off on a Friday night when I received a text from my manager. “Fire in Labrador. Are you able to go?” “Absolutely!” I replied. Having only recently joined the Canadian Red Cross, I was keen to get a deployment under my belt. The challenge of course is that communities in Labrador are quite remote, so getting there isn’t always easy.  

Hurricane Fiona made landfall on September 24, 2022, resulting in widespread flooding, damages to properties, buildings, and infrastructure across Eastern Canada. Hundreds of thousands of people experienced power outages. 

In October 2023, the Canadian Red Cross announced a multiyear agreement in collaboration with the Government of Yukon to strengthen emergency preparedness and disaster response in the territory.

The opioid poisoning crisis continues to be a pressing public health emergency, and responding to it head-on requires knowledge, preparation, and community support.  
 

In April 2024, the Canadian Red Cross hosted a two-day Domestic Emergency Response Unit (D-ERU) open house event at the Best Western Plus Airport Hotel in Winnipeg, Manitoba.