X-Message-Number: 21922 Date: Sun, 8 Jun 2003 08:26:05 -0700 (PDT) From: Christine Gaspar <> Subject: Re: SARS photos --0-1955380117-1055085965=:41389 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Just FYI, the blue Stryker suits are used for intubations and other high risk activities. Each suit is about CAN$2000.00. They have positive pressure ventilation in that they each have a fan in the helmet, and an air filter. It is powered by a battery pack. The circulating air creates a positive pressure in the suit, making it harder for pathogens to get in. It's also much more comfortable with air circulating inside. The plastic sheets you see dividing rooms are actually more elaborate than they appear in the pics. Imagine 10 cubicles which used to comprise our acute care area..with cardiac monitors. Now there is a plastic sheet (three layers thick) dividing that area from the rest of the department, from the ceiling to the floor. Between this sheet and each cubicle, it is called the "anteroom". To enter each cubicle, one must pass through three more layers of plastic sheeting. In each cubicle there is a huge hepafilter, as a proper isolation room would have negative pressure (i.e the air from the room is sucked out, not mixing with the air in the rest of the dept). Our department only has 2 proper isolation rooms, but the construction of the rest which I am explaining was done under the supervision of the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Labour, as nurses complained about working in dangerous conditions. The SARS unit which is under construction in these photos is in our ambulance bay. They converted the ambulance bay, and erected a tent behind it to accomodate members of the general public wishing to be evaluated for sars. The general public do not enter our emergency dept...it is reserved for our own staff who are sick, with sars, or anything else...as many of our staff have found difficulties getting medical care due to the discriminatory nature of this problem...on Friday I was denied entrance into a clinic, simply because I work at North York General Hospital. I told them I had already completed my 10 day quarantine period, showed no symptoms of illness (sars related), and was wearing an N95 mask. She still wouldn't let me in, and told me I would only be able to come back once the sars problem went away. (this was a pain clinic in relation to problems I have with my lower back). I will take more pictures soon of the completed SARS clinic. Later, Christine Gaspar Christine Gaspar <> wrote: Hi everyone. I have posted my newest photos related to the SARS outbreak at North York General Hospital. When you visit my site, you will see 4 photo albums. The latest photos are labelled as such. Let me know what you think, and if your viewing was successful. Christine Gaspar http://community.webshots.com/user/christinegaspar1 Yahoo! Groups Sponsor To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. --0-1955380117-1055085965=:41389 Content-Type: text/html; charset=us-ascii [ AUTOMATICALLY SKIPPING HTML ENCODING! ] Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=21922