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PAGE A8THE CANADIAN STATESMAN, APRIL 23, 2003 www.durhamregion.com Fax declared SARS a provincial emergency FAX from page 1 tinue the spread." One of the first steps Lakeridge took to prevent the spread of SARS was setting setting up a command centre in Oshawa. Its role was to oversee and direct implementation implementation of the different provincial directives directives at Lakeridge facilities across Durham. The command centre ran 24 hours a day, seven days a week, rolling out the directives that were coming directly from the Provincial Operations Centre in Toronto. Discussions and executive meetings were held almost all day long, interpreting the directives for Lakeridge facilities and clarifying what needed to be done. Lakeridge Oshawa Chief Operating Officer Janice Dusek said it was as hectic hectic a situation as she had seen and called the atmosphere inside the command centre and throughout the hospital "wild" in the first few days. Helen Gibson, Command Centre Team Leader, noted, "In most cases we weren't making independent decisions on what we would like to do here in Oshawa. Oshawa. We needed to interpret the directives directives that come front the Ministry (of Health and Long Term Care) based on the type of patients we were seeing." Inside the command centre, Lakeridge Lakeridge staff were manning the phones, communicating regularly with Durham Region Health Department officials, holding teleconference calls, getting messages out to staff at facilities across Durham, and constantly changing different different directives on the fly. "Some people almost lived here 24 hours a day in the first week. It's amazing amazing how things can sort of roll in to where it almost feels normal," Ms. Gibson Gibson added. "People in health care arc used to change and they're used to fairly rapid change. First, we were telling them to wear masks, then gowns and masks, then gloves, goggles, gowns and masks. When they would come in, we were taking taking their temperatures, then implementing implementing another new screening tool at the door. Within a few hours we were frequently frequently changing directives." On April 1, the command centre determined determined local concent over the outbreak had reached the point where it would be a good idea to open a SARS assessment clinic at Lakeridge Oshawa. Acute care practitioner Colleen Dooks headed up the local SARS clinic and said the effort to set it up was fast and furious. "We pulled it together so quickly and then people came in droves in the first couple of days and the phones never stopped," she said. 'There was definitely definitely the immediate need." The majority of calls coming through clinic were patients, families and health care personnel afraid they may have contracted SARS. The area used for the assessment clinic is the currently under-construction new emergency department at Lakeridge Oshawa. Unfortunately, the space did not meet ciment fire code regulations, but was considered a perfect spot because it is currently isolated from the rest of the hospital. Neil Clarke, of the hospital's engineering engineering services department, said the department department worked closely with the City of Oshawa and Oshawa Fire Services to get a temporary permit to use it. Dealing with the outbreak changed everything for Lakeridge staff. Not only were people being taken away from their regular posts to work at the SARS clinic, clinic, but also the way they cooked, cleaned and went about the regular business of patient care was suddenly and dramatically dramatically different. "In health care you still have sick people that don't have SARS, don't have anything to do with SARS, and you still have to make sure you're looking after those people," said Ms. Gibson. Dr. Joe Bone, Lakeridge's deputy chief of staff, says with all the cancellations cancellations to elective procedures, SARS has really affected a lot of people and will continue to. "A lot of those people who might once be considered elective are now becoming becoming urgent or emergent, so it's going to be a huge problem for the hospital coming back because, yes, you can stop the business of hospitals for a little while, but that cancer patient who can wait one week can't wait any longer and that person that has to have surgery can wait a little while, but can't wait much longer," he said. 'The real challenge is going to be over the next few weeks. We might be losing people in the cracks, the patients coming in for elective diagnostics; diagnostics; those people still need those tests. Not only is SARS and acute care challenging, challenging, but the future for this hospital is veiy challenging ... we say we're going back to normal, we're never going back to normal again. There's going to have to be changes in the entire system here in Ontario that handles infectious dis eases." Since the outbreak began, Lakeridge has seen only a limited number of SARS cases and while other hospitals in the GTA have had to completely shut down operations and have seen mass quarantines quarantines amongst staff, Lakeridge facilities in Durham have avoided that fate. They have been SARS free for more than a week now and the lop brass say it is thanks to the efforts of all their staff that they have contained the outbreak and prevented its spread. When all is said and done, Lakeridge officials really believe their staff will be looked at as SARS stars. 1 8pü8l 1-- (0 --- s »--/ V) Ù Ü! 25 - 50%OFF !l CUSTOM if FRAMES Tf O «0 CO 20% OFF I IN STOCK j FRAMES It sTuj o. m g ,c 1 baby STEPS MEMBERS ||| |n 1 Additional 10% OFF above offers !!! «II Surprise Sale Plus everyday good vaiues on selected items ■ughout the store! 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