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THURSDAY
Thursday, March 8, 2012 X Volume 25 No. 20
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The art of turning your kids into lovers of the art of creating Page B1 Thompson River Publications Partnership Ltd.
Crashes down on Highway 5A By Jeremy Deutsch STAFF REPORTER
jeremy@kamloopsthisweek.com
“That’s part of what we’re trying to mould.” TRU’s sleep conference is the only one in B.C., Matthews said. There’s a similar event held in Alberta, but it’s a biennial effort. Matthews said events like this weekend’s conference will go a long way to furthering the understanding of sleep and sleep disorders. “We’re really sort of on the cusp of understanding what the implications are of not sleeping properly,” he said, estimating 750,000 British Columbians live with sleep disorders. “You can’t just ignore something that you spend a third of your life doing,” he said. “We’ve got to get the word out that it’s a really important part of your health.”
It’s a stretch of road known for its beautiful landscapes and rural setting. However the Old Merritt Highway (Highway 5A) has also been the scene of some devastating crashes. That was especially the case in the spring of 2010, when a rash of accidents involving mostly large transport trucks had local politicians and residents calling for a ban of the vehicles on the two-lane highway. The spate of crashes prompted the provincial government enact several measures to bring the carnage to a halt. As it turns out, the highway has been safer for travel in the last couple years than during the middle of the last decade. According to ICBC, the number of crashes and injuries along Highway 5A has been generally in decline dating back to 2006. In 2010, there were 25 accidents along the highway, resulting in 28 injuries. That proved to be an increase from 2009, in which there were 18 crashes involving 14 injuries. However, neither of the figures come close to touching the number of crashes in 2006. There were 47 accidents on Highway 5A that year, injuring 32 people. The following year, officials recorded 30 crashes injuring 22 people, while 2008 saw 33 crashes and another 18 people injured. ICBC does not yet have data from 2011 available yet. Joe Gardner, general manager of the Douglas Lake Ranch, is happy to see the number of crashes along Highway 5A in decline, but isn’t convinced the road is any safer. “It doesn’t feel any better,” he told KTW. Gardner said he still sees many large trucks travelling faster than they should for the road. “I make sure I don’t pass any trucks on the corners,” he said.
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Thompson Rivers University associate professor of respiratory therapy Les Matthews fits a CPAP mask for second-year student Robin Carter. Much more on sleep will be discussed this weekend at the annual TRU Multi-disciplinary Sleep Conference. Dave Eagles/KTW
Sleep, perchance to learn By Tim Petruk STAFF REPORTER
tim@kamloopsthisweek.com
I
T’S SOMETHING EVERY person on the planet does every day and it’s not eating or breathing — and, according to an associate professor at Thompson Rivers University, it’s something often overlooked by the medical profession. Sleep, according to Les Matthews, is just as important as diet and exercise in maintaining a healthy body. “It’s like when they first started looking at nutrition,” the respiratory therapy faculty member told KTW. “That’s where we are with sleep.” Now, Matthews said, sleep researchers are trying to gain momentum and increase the dialogue among different disciplines. That’s where the upcoming TRU
This Week
Multi-disciplinary Sleep Conference comes in. Scheduled to begin on Friday, March 9, and run through Sunday, March 11, Matthews is hoping the conference — in its third year — will help increase awareness and expand understanding of the importance of sleep. Organizers are expecting upwards of 200 delegates, some from as far away as China. Matthews said most are physicians and respiratory therapists, but there are also nurses, teachers, dentists and psychologists slated to attend. “It’s really a multi-disciplinary approach,” he said. “It’s all really about us working together. “If we have private practice working with public, then we can make a difference.”
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