Pathfinder
Editor, Senior Moderator
Post-H1N1 health concerns at homeless shelters
<!-- begin content --><!-- this is is... -->Tue, 2010-01-05 15:44.
Shuyee Lee
H1N1 has highlighted concerns of people working at homeless shelters: is their own health at risk when it comes to the swine flu or other communicable illnesses?
Montreal police wearing surgical masks brought in a homeless man with tuberculosis to the Old Brewery Mission the other night, and that had workers worried about their own health, wondering if they shouldn't have a nurse on site to deal with cases like this and the H1N1 flu.
"There is a phenomena where we have people dropped off at our door. I think sometimes the police and others don't know what resources are inside the walls of the Old Brewery Mission but we don't have medical staff on hand," director general Matthew Pierce tells CJAD News.
So they make do.
"We have a space where they can be isolated, they have a bed, they have meals brought to them," Pierce says.
"We have masks and gloves at all times so workers can have access to them if they need them."
And CLSC workers come in when needed.
"Individuals who are excluded from our society and become ill cannot be excluded from shelters and especially during winter, we can't say no to anyone."
http://www.cjad.com/news/565/1046478
<!-- begin content --><!-- this is is... -->Tue, 2010-01-05 15:44.
Shuyee Lee
H1N1 has highlighted concerns of people working at homeless shelters: is their own health at risk when it comes to the swine flu or other communicable illnesses?
Montreal police wearing surgical masks brought in a homeless man with tuberculosis to the Old Brewery Mission the other night, and that had workers worried about their own health, wondering if they shouldn't have a nurse on site to deal with cases like this and the H1N1 flu.
"There is a phenomena where we have people dropped off at our door. I think sometimes the police and others don't know what resources are inside the walls of the Old Brewery Mission but we don't have medical staff on hand," director general Matthew Pierce tells CJAD News.
So they make do.
"We have a space where they can be isolated, they have a bed, they have meals brought to them," Pierce says.
"We have masks and gloves at all times so workers can have access to them if they need them."
And CLSC workers come in when needed.
"Individuals who are excluded from our society and become ill cannot be excluded from shelters and especially during winter, we can't say no to anyone."
http://www.cjad.com/news/565/1046478