By Bryn Levy

Sask. nurses’ union president calls for Ebola plan

Oct 16, 2014 | 10:48 AM

The president of the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses (SUN) is calling for more preperations against potential cases of Ebola.

Tracy Zambory said a recent conference call with over 11,000 registered nurses (RNs) brought the issue into focus.

“It doesn’t matter even if there’s the remotest of chance.  We need to be prepared for such things because we are now a global community,” she said.

The call included nurses from the U.S. and a live feed from a team of nurses working in Liberia, one of the nations where the outbreak is most severe.

“It’s registered nurses that are dying over there, that are looking after these critically ill people,” Zambory said.

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Zambory said discussions with the group in Liberia show just how much more is needed to stem the tide of the disease in West Africa.

“They need 25,000 HazMat suits, goggles, et cetera — I think she said per month — in Liberia,” she said.

In Saskatchewan, Zambory said top-of-the line protective equipment needs to be available and frontline healthcare workers need to be trained to deal with potential cases, no matter where they work.

“Let’s collaborate between healthcare workers and regional health authorities so that we are prepared for the imminence of this landing at one of our tertiary centres, in one of our rural areas or in one of our remote areas,” she said.

Zambory blasted what she said was a lack of urgency from the province’s health ministry and the regional health authorities.

“What we’re hearing from our membership is that they’ve heard nothing.  And really, at this stage of the game, that’s not acceptable.”

Zambory called it foolish to believe that Ebola could never come to Saskatchewan.  She pointed to a pair of healthcare workers infected in the U.S. after treating a patient in Dallas.

“Talk to the people in Dallas, Texas.  I have a feeling they also had that same feeling, that it would never land in Dallas, Texas from Liberia, of all places,” she said.

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