Nurses, GPs approve of bird-flu plan (Canada)

[Sally Furniss]

Groups representing many of the province's doctors and nurses say they're pleased with Health Minister Philippe Couillard's plan to cope with a bird-flu pandemic if it should occur.
Couillard says no one knows if the virus will cause a human pandemic. But, he says, Quebec is preparing for the worst. For instance:

• About a third of Quebecers might be infected.
• Hospitals would be able to accommodate only the sickest people.
• Other people would be advised to stay away from crowds.

"I think people will be quite easily convinced that they have to refrain from being together in the same place at the same time," Couillard says. The Quebec Federation of Nurses says it's glad the province is preparing, especially since some computer models suggest 65,000 people in Quebec's health-care sector could get sick. "It's always worrying when you hear those kinds of numbers," says Michelle Boisclair, vice-president of the federation. "But, if we are well prepared, maybe we will never reach that amount."
The province is collecting names of volunteers who could help in the health-care sector. It's also making lists of equipment to stock up on, and of places where it could set up makeshift health facilities. The Federation of General Practitioners of Quebec says the Quebec plan is farther ahead than those in most other provinces, and most other countries.
http://www.cbc.ca/montreal/story/qc-birdflu-plan20060310.html