Majority of drug-related deaths can be prevented with care and response, advocates say
On CBC Radio's The Signal, advocates spoke of the impact the drug trade is having on people and vulnerable communities. Thrive co-ordinator Courtney Davis says it hurts to see predictions of increasing overdoses come true, but deaths could still be preventable in the future.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBC
30-04-2025
- CBC
Health teams scramble to contain spread of measles in central and southern Alberta
Calling the measles outbreaks "concerning," the medical officer of health for central Alberta says a flurry of work is going on behind the scenes to rein in cases and prevent deaths. As of midday Wednesday, Alberta had reported a total of 170 cases since the outbreaks began in March. The highest concentration of cases are in the central zone, south zone and north zone — parts of the province with the lowest vaccination rates. The central zone now has 65 cases. The south zone has reported 74 cases, and the north zone has 21. Calgary and Edmonton zones have each reported five cases. "The main thing we're trying to prevent is deaths," said Dr. Ifeoma Achebe, the lead medical officer of health with Alberta Health Services in the central zone. As of Monday, two people had been hospitalized, and later released, since the outbreaks in the central zone began, she said. Provincial data, which was last updated April 19, shows a total of nine people hospitalized across Alberta since the cases began in March. There have been no deaths as a result of Alberta's measles outbreaks this year. "I'm quite concerned. That's why we're taking all the measures that we're taking to address the situation," said Achebe. The central zone emergency operations centre is holding regular meetings to discuss the measles outbreak. A key focus for public health teams is contact tracing and ensuring contacts, who are not immunized, isolate to prevent further spread. "I can tell you the volume is quite high," said Achebe, noting people can start spreading the virus before they even develop symptoms. Another complicating factor is that measles is highly contagious. It can hang in the air for up to two hours after an infected person leaves a location. "Whenever there's a case there's usually a high number of contacts that have been previously exposed before the person even knows he or she was a case. That's a lot of work. Sometimes hundreds of individuals needing to be contacted and isolated." AHS is working to boost vaccination rates in the zone. "We're seeing the outbreak in areas where we have … low immunization rates," said Achebe. Immunization clinics in Two Hills and Vegreville have expanded access, offering appointments on evenings and weekends, she said. Public health teams are also reaching out to schools and communities where the measles cases are centred, she said. "Measles is such an infectious pathogen … that we will see these numbers climb more despite huge efforts by public health to contain this," said Dr. Cora Constantinescu, a pediatric infectious diseases specialist at Alberta Children's Hospital, speaking on CBC Radio's Alberta at Noon on Wednesday. According to Constantinescu, when an exposure occurs in a region where vaccination rates are low, you can have an explosion of cases. "You see a little bit of that, too, in the way it has spread across our province," she said. "Our south zone and central zone numbers are the highest and when you look, historically, that's where some of the lowest immunization uptake rates are. Whereas in Calgary and Edmonton, we have higher immunization rates and you see the numbers are a bit lower." Provincial data from 2023 shows that 57.7 per cent of two-year-olds in the central zone were up-to-date with two doses of the measles vaccine. Some more local geographical areas were much lower. In Two Hills, for example, it was 24 per cent. In the south zone, 59.6 per cent of two-year-olds were up-to-date that year. The north zone had 57.5 per cent coverage for children in that age cohort. Infectious disease experts say an overall 95 per cent coverage is needed for population-level protection against measles. Constantinescu said a number of factors will impact the size of the outbreak, including the public health efforts, whether people are coming forward when they have symptoms and whether they stay home when asked to isolate. The south zone has confirmed 74 cases so far this year. "When we see these numbers, obviously it does create a bit of alarm," said Shannon Vandenberg, the assistant dean of nursing in the faculty of health sciences at the University of Lethbridge. According to Vandenberg, a nurse educator who has researched vaccine hesitancy, there are a number of reasons people opt not to immunize their children, including unwarranted fear about the ingredients, peer pressure among groups of people and the rise of misinformation. Addressing those concerns on an individual family level takes time, she said. "It's not just a simple conversation with someone to say, 'OK, let's get you to immunize.' It's a lot of conversations over a long period of time," Vandenberg said. "We're not going to magically raise our immunization rates … to 95 per cent in a week, right? We just aren't. So that's the challenge. Can we raise them enough to curb the spread, to slow the spread, to prevent it from spreading into new communities?" Zahra Shajani is urging Albertans to reach out for information from reliable sources such as public health nurses, family doctors and governments. "One of the biggest pieces is understanding and getting the right information from the right sources," said Shajani, an associate dean in the faculty of nursing at the University of Calgary who has worked as a public health nurse. "There's a lot of misinformation, perhaps some myths out there, especially online, related to measles and about vaccine safety." It's important, she said, that parents understand how dangerous measles can be. "This isn't like a flu or cold. It's a virus that's being misunderstood." Measles can lead to serious complications, including pneumonia, brain swelling and even death. According to the provincial government's website, between one and three out of every 1,000 people with measles will die. Earlier immunizations for infants Babies living in central, south and north zones are being offered an early dose of the measles vaccine at six months of age due to the outbreaks. The Alberta government's website says measles is "highly preventable," noting immunization is the most important form of protection. Two doses of the measles vaccine, it states, offers nearly 100 per cent protection. The province recommends people who cannot be immunized — including young babies, pregnant Albertans and those who are immunocompromised — take steps to protect themselves. "You can reduce the risk of acquiring measles by avoiding communities with significant measles spread, only socializing with people who you know are immunized, and avoiding indoor gatherings." AHS said public health teams in the central zone have seen a significant increase in inquiries about measles immunization. Appointments increased 40 per cent during the first three weeks of April compared to March Meanwhile, in an effort to keep potential measles cases out of the hospital and prevent spread to vulnerable Albertans, AHS is also planning stand-alone measles assessment centres in the northeastern part of the zone, where a lot of the cases are located, according to Achebe. Measles symptoms include: High fever. Cough. Runny nose. Red eyes. Blotchy, red rash that appears three to seven days after the fever starts. In darker skin colours, it may appear purple or darker than surrounding skin. Alberta Health provides detailed information on measles case counts, symptoms, free immunizations and possible exposure locations here.
CBC
24-04-2025
- CBC
Robotic patient transfer device launches at Ottawa hospital
A robotic platform designed to transfer patients in and out of hospital beds with the press of a button launched last week at five Canadian hospitals, including Bruyère Health Saint-Vincent Hospital in Ottawa. The ALTA Platform is the creation of Toronto-based Jayiesh Singh, CEO and co-founder of Able Innovations. Singh told CBC Radio's Ottawa Morning he wants to free up healthcare professionals to "provide compassionate care" and "protect themselves from career-ending injuries." Transferring a patient is labour-intensive and can happen hundreds of times a week, according to Paula Doering, Bruyère Health's senior vice-president of clinical programs. Bruyère Health was the first organization to start using the ALTA Platform. Doering said she quickly saw its value for the health and time of health-care workers, as well as for patients. "Our staff see this as a tremendous time-saver, because it doesn't take three or four people to transfer a patient," Doering said. "It's one individual with the push of a button." The Ontario Nurses' Association said it could not find a representative to comment by deadline, and the Ontario Public Service Employees Union did not respond to a request for comment. Singh's mother worked in long-term care facilities. He volunteered with her as a teen and remembered watching her injure herself — on one occasion dislocating her shoulder — and develop chronic backaches due to her work. Later in life, as an engineer, he expected to see other people applying robotics to the problem. He found no one, but healthcare workers kept telling him how much they needed a solution. "That gave me the conviction to go on my own," Singh said. 'Compassionate care' Shortly after starting with Bruyère Health, Doering said she visited Carleton University, where Singh and his team were working on the prototype. Staff, patients, and patient families were invited to provided feedback on the device. Doering remembered one particularly tall man named Greg who asked for padding at the head and foot of the bed. "And [Singh's] team was there to do that," she said. "His team have really been there listening to our patients, our families and our staff and developed a terrific platform." Singh said the device isn't intended as a way to replace healthcare workers, and Doering said it "absolutely will not" replace staff at Bruyère Health. "There is such a spiralling dynamic of short staffing, leading to additional burden, and that's leading to people leaving, and the reality is we need to invest in technologies that de-burden our frontline staff and allow them to do what they really want to do," Singh said. "Healthcare workers get into the profession to provide compassionate care." The ALTA Platform also launched at St. Joseph's Health Care London, Nova Scotia Health, Vancouver Coastal Health and the University Health Network in Toronto. Singh said he'll spend the next two years building relationships and proving that the device is a significant improvement for patients and healthcare workers.
CBC
17-04-2025
- CBC
Majority of drug-related deaths can be prevented with care and response, advocates say
On CBC Radio's The Signal, advocates spoke of the impact the drug trade is having on people and vulnerable communities. Thrive co-ordinator Courtney Davis says it hurts to see predictions of increasing overdoses come true, but deaths could still be preventable in the future.
