Ontario nurses call for protocol to deal with patients with Ebola
Posted October 15, 2014 4:11 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario says its members must be properly trained to deal with Ebola, but so far there’s no sign of a provincial strategy for coping with the deadly virus.
Nurses’ spokeswoman Doris Grinspun says she was in touch with nurses at two Ontario hospitals with suspected cases of Ebola and found they had received no instructions or education about dealing with the virus.
Grinspun says one of the lessons learned from the deadly SARS outbreak in Toronto was the need for a co-ordinated strategy to deal with the problem.
However, Grinspun says she’s not aware of a clear plan for Ebola, and if there is one then nurses need to be made aware of it, even though there have been no confirmed cases in Ontario.
She says the province must develop a protocol this week including all the protective measures and equipment health care workers will need to treat patients with Ebola symptoms.
Grinspun says Ontario must be prepared to deal with patients with Ebola who could show up at hospitals, walk-in clinics and long-term care homes.
