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PANDEMIC ALERT LEVEL
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Now tracking the new emerging South Africa Omicron Variant

" Canadian Nurses want better masks "

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    Posted: March 19 2006 at 8:45pm
Ont. nurses want better masks for avian flu

Updated Sun. Mar. 19 2006 11:33 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff

Ontario nurses say the federal government wasted money by purchasing
standard surgical masks incapable of blocking avian flu.
"It was two of our nurses who died during the (SARS outbreak)," Lesley
Bell, of the Ontario Nurses Association, told CTV News. "We're just saying
we don't want to go through that again. Let's make sure that the nurses
and health care workers who are on the front lines are protected."

The government bought 4.5 million standard masks for
about 10 cents each. Ontario nurses say the masks are inadequate
protection against avian flu, and the government needs to buy N95
surgical masks at about 10 times the cost. Nurses demanded and
received N95 masks three years ago during Toronto's SARS outbreak.


The World Health Organization recommends the N95 mask as protection
against both SARS and avian flu.

The mask has become popular in the United States, where they are mailed
to relatives living in countries affected by the virus.

"They came in a bought cases at a time, and they would ship them home
to their families," Home Depot worker Jake Zacharias said.The
government says there is no evidence to show N95 masks are more
effective at blocking the virus than standard surgical masks.

"There is certainly confusion, in the health care community, and globally,
about how this disease is transmitted, and what the optimal method of
protection is," said Dr. Arlene King, a microbiologist at the Public Health
Agency of Canada.

The N95 masks are manufactured in Quebec, but have to be pre-fitted for
every user and can only be worn for a few hours.

Dr. Donald Low, a microbiologist, said that N95 masks also become
useless if the user touches them, adding another problem.

"In some circumstances they may be no better than a surgical mask, and
in some cases they may even be worse," she said.

However, Ontario's nurses say the government is simply interested in
saving money, not which mask is more effective.Meanwhile, Israel
confirmed its first outbreak of the H5N1 strain Sunday – the worst
mutation of the virus.




http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060319 /
bird_flu_060319/20060319?hub=Health
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 20 2006 at 3:13am

Meanwhile, Israel
confirmed its first outbreak of the H5N1 strain Sunday – the worst
mutation of the virus
.

 

Did anyone else catch this little line..in the above news story??????

The worst mutation of the virus..can and does it get much worse??? or are we at the starting gate...or did this mutation win the race..and the winner has been silenced


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Corn Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 20 2006 at 3:18am
back to the Canadian Nurses wanting better mask....Are they that ugly? Could they just put paper bags on their heads?
Speculation is the only tool we have with a threat that can circle the globe in 30 days. Test results&news is slow.Factor in human conditions,politics, money&bingo!The truth!Facts come after the fact.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 20 2006 at 3:36am
Corn, how did you find a picture of the new Canadian
N95(SNE) Mask? The model you posted a picture of, is reserved for
hospital administrators, you'll understand why they call it the, see no evil
model.You can tell it's a hospital CEO, by the tie. You would think when
you make 1/2-million$ a year, he could afford a better fashion statement.

The Canadian nurses will be wearing a similar version, but with holes for
eyes and mouth, after they are fit tested.



"Some nurses in Canada had to use less-protective masks when caring for
SARS patients. Others were rationing the supply. In some cases, they were
told to save their masks in plastic bags and reuse them from one shift to
the next, Barbara Wahl, former president of the Ontario Nurses'
Association, told a Canadian commission investigating SARS in 2003."

http://www.calnurses.org/media-center/in-the-news/2006/janua ry/
page.jsp?itemID=27523122
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Fla_Medic Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 20 2006 at 5:29am
Rick, yes, this is obviously a clueless hospital CEO. A bean counter, concerned more with the bottom line that employee safety.  The tie is a dead giveaway. But a necktie has many uses. It does more than just  identify those in charge leading up to a pandemic.

It also save's us the trouble of finding a rope.  
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Bobcat Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 20 2006 at 9:02am
I've spent the last 20 years of my life as an emergency room R.N.
Recently, the hosp. admin and doc's got together to try to figure out where to put a negative air pressure isolation room in the department. No-one asked any of the nurses (no suprise there!) Our infection control nurse was clueless and went along with any suggestion.... but that's why they hired him.
  The end result is that they decided to place the room in an area that anyone being admitted would have to be brought down a main hallway, past the waiting room, triage area, main hallway and nursing station. Their argument was that the patient could wear a mask until they reached the room. What a joke!
  Anyone suffering from severe oxygen deprivation due to any disease process becomes aggitated and difficult to manage because of the depleation of oxygen to the brain. Most patients take off the oxygen mask because they don't have the mental facilties to know that it's helping, and they just feel that it is obstructing their breathing even more.  So, anyone in the department or near a patient with H5N1 is now potentially infected!
  No amount of rationale from myself and others could make the decision change. Stupiditty reighns supreme!
  ( I quit my profession last year due to the ignorence of the system and dropping of standards. I just couldn't take the bullsh*t of the "dollar" being more important than quality of care.)
Ready or not, here it comes!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote roxy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 20 2006 at 10:04am
 there will be a whole lot of medical staff in jail together, count me in, we'll swap war stories about  health care in america, i might get some rest in jail, 3 hots and a cot  , and then management  can be the first line of defense  against bird flu, then they'll let us out of jail   roxy
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote janetn Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 20 2006 at 5:14pm

Originally posted by roxy roxy wrote:

 there will be a whole lot of medical staff in jail together, count me in, we'll swap war stories about  health care in america, i might get some rest in jail, 3 hots and a cot  , and then management  can be the first line of defense  against bird flu, then they'll let us out of jail   roxy

 

count me in too  Gee getting some rest does sound good. At least our part of the jail will have clean formites

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 20 2006 at 5:39pm

Ah hospital bean counters....

The hospital staff could wear 2 masks and have a N95 level of protection. If they will be involved with direct patient care and want the best respiratory protection look at a PAPR. (Powered Air Purifing Respirator)

A PAPR together with head-to-toe disposable Tyvek Protective Clothing is about as good as you can get. Yep their pricey, but talk to the hospital management armed with facts and the problems that sick staff members will cause if they aren't able to come to work. After all, you are First Responders and deserve all the goodies that Fire and Police pros get.

See this link for PAPR's: Thank you for your public service.

http://www.scotthealthsafety.com/c420.htm  

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