Photographed at the at the Sunnybrook Health Science Centre Trauma Unit in Toronto in 1995. Images from this shoot appeared in a This Country Canada photo essay on the trauma unit seen through the eyes of ‘Joanne’ a seasoned trauma nurse. The essay title ‘My name’s Jo…I’m one of the nurses here’ is from the essay. Here’s an excerpt:

It’s anonymous work with little recognition. At best, the patient will remember Joanne as a blur, maybe as a friendly touch or voice that cut through the fear and pain. Joanne’s memory will be as fleeting. “You get to know people by their injuries,” she says. Still there’s compassion in anonymity. “My name’s Jo… I’m one of the nurses here”, she’ll say to patients, occasionally raising the eyebrow of a physician working on an unconscious patient. “I talk to them whether they’re awake or not. I couldn’t imagine lying in the trauma room…with all the beeps and noises…and people poking and prodding…like a bad dream where you can’t wake up but you know it’s a dream and you want to say, ‘Hey, I’m OK’. I’d want someone to acknowledge me!”