SEVERE ACUTE RESPIRATORY SYNDROME (SARS)
Volume 2 Number 4, May 4, 2004
This Health Hazard Alert for OPSEU members is provided to supplement information from Public Health, Ministry of Health (MOH), and Health Canada, and explains your rights under the Occupational Health and Safety Act and the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act.
Health care providers advised to screen for febrile respiratory illness (FRI):
A memo by Dr. Sheela Basrur, Chief Medical Officer of Health on April 23, 2004 advised health care providers in acute and non-acute care facilities to screen patients and clients for febrile respiratory illness (FRI). The precaution comes as a result of the situation in China, where since April 22, 2004 five people have
been diagnosed with SARS, and one person has died.
April 23, 2004 Memo from Dr. Sheela Basrur and Febrile Respiratory Illness Screener
Latest Directives—April 15, 2004
The Ministry of Health and Long Term Care (MOHLTC) released a new set of directives on April 15, 2004 regarding high-risk procedures in SARS outbreak and non-outbreak conditions. Also released was a “Patient Transfer Authorization Screening” form and procedures for deployment of an Emergency Medical Assistance Team.
· Memorandum of Release April 15, 2004
· Directive to all Ontario Health Care Facilities/Settings for High-Risk Aerosol-Generating Procedures under Outbreak Conditions (HR04-13)
· Standard for all Ontario Health Care Facilities/Settings for High-risk Respiratory Procedures under Non-Outbreak Conditions—April 15, 2004
· Emergency Medical Assistance Team (EMAT) Criteria for Deployment—April 15, 2004
· Patient Transfer Authorization Form—Non-Outbreak—April 14, 2004
· Preventing Respiratory Illness Protecting Residents and Staff in Non-Acute Care Institutions—Infection Control in Surveillance Standards for Febrile Respiratory Illness (FRI) in Non-Outbreak Conditions - March 11, 2004
· Community Health Providers—Preventing Respiratory Illnesses in Community Settings—Recommendations for Infection Control and Surveillance for Febrile Respiratory Illness (FRI) in Community Settings in Non-Outbreak Conditions
· Non-Acute Institutional Settings—Preventing Respiratory Illnesses, Protecting Residents and Staff in Non-Acute Institutional
For a complete list of all current directives, go to the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care website at http://www.health.gov.on.ca
Interim SARS Commission Report Released
Justice Archie Campbell, the Ontario Superior Court judge appointed last June to investigate the SARS outbreak released the first part of his review on April 15, 2004. The report called Ontario’s public health system “woefully inadequate.” He goes on to say “SARS showed Ontario’s central public health system to be
unprepared, fragmented, poorly led, uncoordinated, inadequately resourced, professionally impoverished, and generally incapable of discharging its mandate.” His final report is expected at the end of the year or early in 2005. For a link to Campbell’s interim report, go to
http://www.health.gov.on.ca/english/public
/pub/ministry_reports/campbell04/campbell04.html
Release of the Final Report of the Expert Panel on SARS and Infectious Disease Control
On April 21, 2004, the Final Report of the Expert Panel on SARS and Infectious Disease Control was released. The bulk of the report was about enhancing public health staffing, services and expertise, and four recommendations on occupational health and safety. One of the health and safety recommendations was that MOHLTC
and the Ministry of Labour (MOL) should define the role of occupational health and safety during an infectious disease outbreak. For a link to the report, go to http://www.health.gov.on.ca/english/public/
pub/ministry_reports/walker04/walker04_mn.html
For more information, contact OPSEU’s Health and Safety Unit: 1-800-268-7376, 416-443-8888, ext. 772. Check the OPSEU website at www.opseu.org for future updates.
