Last night Dame Patsy, as patron of the New Zealand Red Cross, presented Florence Nightingale Medals to three New Zealand nurses. The highest award in nursing, the medals are presented to Red Cross and Red Crescent nurses and others, who have shown exceptional courage and devotion to victims of armed conflict or natural disaster. Gail Corbett, Guru Dev Singh, and Barbara Turnbull are three of only thirty New Zealanders to receive the medal since it was instituted in 1912. Between them, the three have undertaken numerous Red Cross postings to places like Iraq, Gaza, Liberia and Afghanistan, with their work encompassing everything from managing hospitals to dealing with Ebola outbreaks.
Swiss Ambassador HE David Vogelsanger, a former Red Cross delegate himself, was also in attendance.
