SARS SHUTS TORONTO SCHOOL, 6,400 IN QUARANTINE (Nurses' Calls Not Heeded!!!!!)

WashingtonPost ^ | May 28, 2003 | Rajiv Sekhri

[travelnurse]

SARS Shuts Toronto School, 6,400 in Quarantine Reuters Wednesday, May 28, 2003; 5:24 PM By Rajiv Sekhri TORONTO (Reuters) - Concern about SARS shut down a Toronto-area high school on Wednesday, sending staff and students into quarantine and raising fears the virus may have spread from hospitals to the broader community.

[GOPJ]

Now that would be a nightmare scenario:

Yup, I called several hotlines and government health offices trying to find out if anyone has even tried to find out if SARS can be spread by mosquitoes or not. They were all like a deer caught in the headlights and have never even considered the question before.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the heads up!

[Smogger]

We don't have the problem in the states because we use the right equipment, and we don't let our guard down with any infectious/contagious disease.

I wish I was a certain as you, but I am not. I suspect the same pattern will be repeated in the United States when SARS finally arrives here.

[Grig]

When SARS broke, he went to Toronto to eat at a Chineese place, when Mad Cow came out, he ate stake in Ottawa. He wouldn't dare show his face in Alberta.

[travelnurse]

That's fine for exposure within hospitals but doesn't address exposure in the general populace. If it's airborne it will spread despite efforts in the hospital. Is that incorrect?

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Air borne contagious infections always spread. That is precisely the reason for PROPER ISOLATION AND INFECTION CONTROL PROTOCOL BE INSTITUTED WITHOUT DELAY, AND NO LAX in all health care settings in an epidemic area. Unfortunately, Toronto health officials were in too much of a hurry to discard this disease for fear of hurting their image and tourism and economy and now they are suffering the consequences. Dr. Last warned them and the WHO, but he was a minority and they wouldn't listen to him either.

[travelnurse]

I wish I was a certain as you, but I am not. I suspect the same pattern will be repeated in the United States when SARS finally arrives here.

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We do have SARS cases here, but we do not have an epidemic because we maintain the proper Infection control/Isolation protocol.

[travelnurse]

I suspect that very few emergency rooms around the USA are observing the protocols you describe and will only do so AFTER experiencing a major SARS outbreak!

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I can assure you our emergency rooms are using the protocol I have mentioned. We do not have an epidemic here, but this protocol is in place.

[travelnurse]

"Young said now is not the time to assign blame. "Right now we've got to focus on getting control and making sure this gets stopped."

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Same thing happened the first time around. Officials wouldn't provide the "proper" protective respirator masks, etc. to protect the health care workers.

Yep, officials said the same thing the first time around. All talk and no action. This is nothing but rhetoric to attempt to convince the WHO and the public they are deeply concerned.( but please, come to Toronto, eat in our restaurants, it's safe here.... LOL) Yeah, right! You couldn't pay me enough to work in the Canadian/Govt. Health System!

[Judith Anne]

I know what you mean. I about gagged when I read that remark...

We aren't using SARS ER precautions, triage, or anything yet in our rural hospitals...

[travelnurse]

Intake clerks, various medical personnel AND the "Triage Nurse"..., all without even a simple mask!

Obviously, since only one suspected local SARS case has even been noted in the area (Central Florida), the precautions seem to be considered unnecessary.

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Obviously. There is no epidemic but the protocol is "in place."

[Fred Mertz]

Good work with the visuals. Thanks for the heads up.

[travelnurse]

We aren't using SARS ER precautions, triage, or anything yet in our rural hospitals...

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Obviously, it's not needed , but is in place.

[browardchad]

Whoa, has that story you linked morphed! The bit about the WHO criteria increasing the Toronto SARS figures is buried in the article, which is now headed: "SARS outbreak may have peaked Monday, says Low"

It looks like Canada is determined to minimalize the situation, no matter what the cost in human lives.

[MeneMeneTekelUpharsin]

Even a relatively small outbreak of SARS will overwhelm the American medical system in a matter of days. You have two problems. Personnel and equipment. Do the numbers, there are only a few thousand isolation beds in the entire country with approved ventilation. A few hundred cases in any city will shut down the hospitals.

Have already told people respirators are going to be in demand. Few seem to care.

[-YYZ-]

"Yeah, right! You couldn't pay me enough to work in the Canadian/Govt. Health System!"

No? Well, that's a big surprise. Here all the time I thought you were a big fan of socialized medicine and just concerned about SARS. </sarcasm>

Pardon me for saying, but you seem to be more interested in grinding an axe against Canada's socialized medical system than you do in dicussing the facts of this outbreak. But that's just my impression, sitting here a half hour away from Toronto - I'm sure our media are all in on the conspiracy to cover up the truth too, right? Yeah, there have been mistakes and shortcomings in the system, but many of your accusations are without foundation.

[Smogger]

We do have SARS cases here, but we do not have an epidemic because we maintain the proper Infection control/Isolation protocol.

I think that it's more likely that few infected persons have made it to the US. As the number of infected persons traveling in the US continues to increase (and it will) I expect the number of new infections in the US to increase dramatically despite our vaunted Infection control/Isolation protocol.

I'm no doctor, but having read most of the articles about SARS I have a few conclusions:

1) Despite assertions to the contrary the medical establishment has very little real idea what we are up against.

2) The primary goal of the the medical professions in each country where there has been a significant number of infections seems to be to prevent panic and re-assure the public rather then to stem the tide of infection.

3) It's going to get a lot worse before it gets any better.

[travelnurse]

Pardon me for saying, but you seem to be more interested in grinding an axe against Canada's socialized medical system than you do in dicussing the facts of this outbreak. But that's just my impression, sitting here a half hour away from Toronto - I'm sure our media are all in on the conspiracy to cover up the truth too, right? Yeah, there have been mistakes and shortcomings in the system, but many of your accusations are without foundation.

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You are entitled to your opinion, and you are partially right. I deplore Canada's socialized health care system, and their lack of action and concern at the expense of their own health care employees, lives and spreading this disease, in the name of economics and tourism, and not containing this epidemic in Toronto just validates one reason why.

You bet your state sponsored media, along with your state sponsored health care system is covering up the truth. You cannot fool your southern neighbors, who are on top of this in our Health Care System and free press.

My assertions are founded. As hard as it may be for you to swollow the truth, the facts are there if you examine them.

[-YYZ-]

You are either ignorant of the Canadian media, or deliberately bending the truth. We have one state-sponsored media outlet, the CBC. We have several other privately owned radio/TV media corporations as well as a number of privately-owned newspapers and magazines. And the CBC, for that matter, regularly attacks the government and blows the lid off their attempted cover-ups.

All the shortcomings of our socialized health-care system and our public-health authorities have been reported in our media, believe it or not. In fact, almost all of the information, favorable or not twowards our health care system, about the Toronto SARS outbreaks that has appeared on FR has come from Canadian media.

[travelnurse]

2) The primary goal of the the medical professions in each country where there has been a significant number of infections seems to be to prevent panic and re-assure the public rather then to stem the tide of infection.

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I agree with this. But here, we do not have an epidemic because we are using the tools that have proven effective in the past to contain infectious/contagious diseases. I have worked with HIV patients who have active TB, which is highly contagious (air borne, droplet transmission), for several years and I, nor none of my associates acquired TB, the reason being is proper Infection Control/Isolation technique.

The media has the public so stirred up over SARS, that they are confusing the whole issue. If you effectively use the tools you have to protect yourself and others, any epidemic can be properly contained.

The problem, as I see it, is not with our very effective Infection Control/Isolation Protocol but with other countries such as Canada being lax and exporting it into other areas.

[Allan]

And the CBC, for that matter
regularly attacks the government
and blows the lid off their attempted cover-ups.

The CBC reporting on SARS has been dismal.