TORONTO (CP) -- Ontario will improve emergency response in hospitals across the province by providing decontamination tents and more equipment and supplies, Health Minister George Smitherman said Thursday. "Ontarians must have complete confidence that their health care system can respond in times of emergencies," Smitherman said in a release.
The government expects to spend $13.5 million on the plan.
The province says it wants every hospital in the province to have the same ability to respond to another SARS-type infectious disease, an industrial accident, a train derailment or even acts of terrorism.
Funding will be distributed to hospitals based on their size, capacity and expertise, and will be used to buy one self-contained decontamination tent for every emergency room.
Hospital staff will also be trained "for all types of emergencies, including chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear," Smitherman said. The portable tents ensure that any patients suspected of such exposure can be decontaminated outside the hospital, reducing the risk to other patients and staff.
The province will also buy stockpiles of radiation decontamination equipment, including personal protective equipment for hospital employees, nuclear monitoring systems and air samplers.
The emergency room initiatives are part of a three-year plan, launched last June in response to two reports on the deadly outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome in 2003, which killed 44 people in the Toronto area.
The plan is consistent with the recommendations of the report, Dr. David Walker, head of the expert panel on SARS and infectious disease control, said in the release. "Today's announcement is an important investment in the emergency capacity of Ontario's health care system," Hilary Short, president and CEO of the Ontario Hospital Association, said in the release.
http://www.canoe.ca/OntQueTicker/CANOE-wire.Ont-Hospitals-Tents.html
Indonesian Terrorism Threat Prompts U.S., U.K. Alerts (Update1)
Jan. 14 (Bloomberg) -- The threat of terrorist attacks in Indonesia prompted the U.S. to issue an alert to its citizens and the U.K. to close its embassy and consulate offices in the capital, Jakarta.
``Reports indicate that terrorists are planning attacks against a wide variety of targets,'' the U.S. State Department said in an e-mailed statement yesterday from Washington. Attacks ``could be directed against any location.''
The U.K. closed its offices yesterday ``in response to a specific bomb threat,'' the Foreign Office said in a statement on its Web site. Thailand's embassy also received a threat, the British Broadcasting Corp. reported.
CANADIAN hospitals get an "atta-boy" for serious Homeland Security efforts. American hospitals, however, are closing in great numbers due to illegal immigrant's sucking their financial stability right out of them.
SNIP:Thu March 13, 2003 10:35 AM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters Health) - U.S. hospitals were urged Wednesday to help communities develop emergency preparedness systems to deal with any potential terrorist attacks.
A report by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) says that U.S. communities will likely be on their own for the first 24 to 72 hours following a terrorist attack.
The group said an effective response would require the coordinated involvement of emergency medical services, hospitals, fire departments, police, public health agencies, and municipal and county officials."