Alta. measles patients being asked to wait in vehicles to be triaged
Covenant Health on Thursday confirmed the process is used at Grey Nuns Community Hospital in Edmonton when it is safe to do so, 'like many other sites in Alberta,' because of an increase in measles patients.
'The triage process will now occur in the ambulance bay rather than waiting for isolation rooms, as it expedites the process and ensures patients receive the care they require depending on presenting symptoms,' communications manager Janet Laurie told CTV News Edmonton in an email.
Grey Nuns and other Edmonton hospitals have been the sites of recent measles exposures.
Every hospital's screening process is different according to its infrastructure, capacity and resources, and can 'leverage similar operational strategies for patient management as needed,' Laurie said. For example, a smaller site may only have one airborne isolation room in their emergency department.
Grey Nuns' ambulance bay has three lanes, so EMS will 'always' have room, she added.
Measles is highly transmissible and can lead to pneumonia, encephalitis and death for vulnerable people.
Alberta has the most measles cases in North America on a per-capita basis, with 1,230 confirmed cases since March.
Experts worry summer events, like the Calgary Stampede and Edmonton's KDays, and travel could push the number higher.
'The good thing about Stampede is the fact that it's outdoors predominantly, so that does help with things like air flow. But when people are crammed together … it really negates that. So it means when they're that close to each other, there's a high risk for transmission, particularly for a virus like measles that thrives in that sort of a close environment,' said Dr. Dale Kalina Samji, infectious disease specialist and a chief medical information officer in Brantford, Ont.
'The most important thing to keep in mind is that if you've had two doses of the measles vaccine, you should be considered safe. There will be some spillover cases, but it's so important to have both of those doses of the vaccine before you attend any event.'
With files from CTV News Edmonton's Nicole Lampa
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