Latest news with #SouthernHealth
BBC News
4 days ago
- General
- BBC News
From NHS wards to field hospitals in Ukraine and Turkey
"One day you're working in Craigavon Area Hospital; the next, you're boarding a flight to a war zone."Dr Stephen Reaney, from Northern Ireland, travels the world as a volunteer, providing urgent medical care in disaster-hit 2023, he worked in southern Turkey, after a deadly earthquake killed more than 55,000 year before that, Dr Reaney was in Ukraine, after Russia launched a full-scale military invasion. "We're seeing the typical war casualties – men, women, and children," he told BBC News NI."It's very traumatic for the staff, but you just get on with it, particularly when children come in with severe burns, for example, it can be very distressing. "But we do our best for our patients." When he is at home, Dr Reaney works as an urgent care doctor for the Southern Health and Social Care for about four months of the year, he travels with the Christian organisation Samaritan's Purse to countries worst hit by sets up field hospitals to provide emergency described how a woman who had been trapped in a collapsed building following the Turkey earthquake survived after receiving two weeks of intensive care at the field hospital there. Twelve-hour shifts, seven-day weeks An example of one of the organisation's tent-like hospital rooms was on display at Dundonald Elim contained four trauma beds, basic vital sign monitors, ultrasound scanners and ECG monitoring equipment."The diagnostics are really quite simple, but we can do a lot with very little," Dr Reaney said of the one of the main challenges for him and his colleagues is to use medical resources carefully while deployed."Once they're gone, they're gone, until the next shipment," he said."There's little wastage. "We work efficiently and we do the most for the most."You just have to switch gears and remember you're not back in Northern Ireland. "You're in a very resource-limited environment, working in a small team, so that's a challenge."Dr Reaney told BBC News NI that while volunteering abroad, he and his colleagues work 12-hour shifts, seven days a week, treating patients who have come through "some horrendous experiences".He said the role is a rewarding one but acknowledged it can also be "traumatising", particularly for medics working on their first emergency response.
CBC
6 days ago
- General
- CBC
Manitoba expands measles vaccine eligibility for wildfire evacuees
Manitoba has expanded measles vaccine eligibility for children who have been evacuated from their communities because of wildfires. The province said in its measles update Wednesday that evacuated children who are six months to a year old will be eligible for an early dose, in addition to the routine vaccinations scheduled at 12 months and four to six years old. Children were previously eligible for that additional dose if they were travelling to a measles-endemic country. The province expanded eligibility last month to children living in Southern Health or the Interlake Eastern health region and those who travel regularly to those areas, as cases continued to grow amid an outbreak in the province. Officials also announced Wednesday that there's a new exposure site. Anyone who was at the Boundary Trails Health Centre emergency department in Winkler on May 22 from 6 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. must monitor for symptoms until June 13.
CTV News
22-05-2025
- Health
- CTV News
Measles keeps spreading in Manitoba
Manitoba is reporting more than a dozen new cases of the measles this week as the outbreak of the highly transmissible virus keeps growing. Provincial data as of May 17, 2025, shows there have now been 60 measles cases in the last four months. The trend is starting to show some exponential growth, as 42 of the cases have been in May alone. Four probable cases are also being monitored. Reports of possible public exposures are also piling up. The most recent one happened May 11 at an hours-long Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra event at the Centre Culturel Franco-Manitobain in Winnipeg. On the same day, another public exposure was reported at Dave and LaVerne's Modern Diner in Winnipeg from 2:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. People who were at either of those locations are being asked to monitor for symptoms until June 2. Public health officials describe measles as one of the most highly contagious diseases that comes with a recognizable red, blotchy rash. The disease is airborne, and it can linger in the air for several hours. Health officials say an infection can be serious and possibly fatal. Measles vaccine vials Vials of the measles, mumps, rubella vaccine shown in an undated image. (File) Last week, measles vaccine eligibility was expanded to include children six months to 12 months old who live in, or regularly visit people living in, Southern Health-Santé Sud or the Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority. Children who travel regularly are also eligible for the early shot. The early shot does not replace the routine measles vaccine given at 12 months and four to six years old.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Manitoba confirms 16 more measles cases, putting total at 60
The number of measles cases continues to rise in Manitoba, with the total now sitting at 60 confirmed cases and four more probable ones. That's up from 44 confirmed and four probable in last week's update from the provincial government. The increase was recorded in spite of the province's move to expand eligibility for the measles vaccine in southern Manitoba, where most exposures and cases have been reported. Effective May 14, infants as young as six months old who live in the Southern Health and Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority areas, who travel regularly or who have close contact with people in those regions are eligible to get the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine. The number of cases is being updated on the government's website every Wednesday. The province also lists detailed information on the locations, times and days where public measles exposures have occurred. Measles is characterized by a rash that appears on the face and progresses down the body several days after initial symptoms appear — generally seven to 21 days after exposure. It can be life-threatening and is more severe in children. The disease spreads through the air when someone coughs, sneezes or talks. Even a few minutes in the same space as a sick person poses infection risks, and the virus can linger on surfaces for two hours after an infected person leaves. Measles was considered eliminated in Canada in 1998, but some imported cases result in time-limited outbreaks, Health Canada says. As of May 3, there had been 1,593 confirmed and 253 probable cases in Canada in 2025, by far the most since 1998. The second most was 752 cases reported in all of 2011.
CBC
21-05-2025
- Health
- CBC
Manitoba confirms 16 more measles cases, putting total at 60
The number of measles cases continues to rise in Manitoba, with the total now sitting at 60 confirmed cases and four more probable ones. That's up from 44 confirmed and four probable in last week's update from the provincial government. The increase was recorded in spite of the province's move to expand eligibility for the measles vaccine in southern Manitoba, where most exposures and cases have been reported. Effective May 14, infants as young as six months old who live in the Southern Health and Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority areas, who travel regularly or who have close contact with people in those regions are eligible to get the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine. The number of cases is being updated on the government's website every Wednesday. The province also lists detailed information on the locations, times and days where public measles exposures have occurred. Measles is characterized by a rash that appears on the face and progresses down the body several days after initial symptoms appear — generally seven to 21 days after exposure. It can be life-threatening and is more severe in children. The disease spreads through the air when someone coughs, sneezes or talks. Even a few minutes in the same space as a sick person poses infection risks, and the virus can linger on surfaces for two hours after an infected person leaves. Measles was considered eliminated in Canada in 1998, but some imported cases result in time-limited outbreaks, Health Canada says. As of May 3, there had been 1,593 confirmed and 253 probable cases in Canada in 2025, by far the most since 1998. The second most was 752 cases reported in all of 2011.
