Specific hospitals designated to deal with Ebola response in BC

SURREY (NEWS1130) – The BC government is designating hospitals to handle Ebola patients if there is ever an outbreak here. Adults should go to Surrey Memorial and children should go to BC Children’s.

BC’s Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. Perry Kendall says all hospitals will be ready if someone comes in with Ebola symptoms.

“If you start moving somebody in for treatment, then the treatment can be very intensive. In order to provide the best treatment and best protection to the healthcare workers caring for that patient, it makes a lot of sense to have, if you like, focused centres of expertise.”

BC Children’s Hospital already has staff trained in pediatrics and the specialized equipment for little bodies. Kendall says sick kids already at BC Children’s will not be exposed. “It’s specialty care. You need people who know how to care for young children. Not everybody has that specialty. They have good isolation facilities. They have very good nurses and physicians. There would be no risk to other patients.”

This follows complaints from the BC Nurses’ Union that they have not received enough training and that communication on guidelines is poor.

BCNU President Gayle Duteil says it’s a good first step, but infectious disease training should be routine.

“You have to be proficient in the donning and doffing procedure, or the putting on and taking off of personal protective equipment to avoid cross contamination. So BCNU remains determined to make sure all nurses and frontline health care workers in the province, that we will continue to insist health authorities provide them with the necessary personal protective equipment and the training, ongoing training, required to safely care for any Ebola patient.”

The BCNU has not been involved with the Ebola preparedness task force yet. Duteil says although the threat of an actual outbreak here is low, she is not willing to take any risks with the lives of her members.