The Chilliwack
Progress Tuesday
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Chilliwack comes back and thumps Prince George to tie series.
Lifeline to RCMP in the field.
Young entrepreneurs mean business.
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Y O U R C O M M U N I T Y N E W S PA P E R • F O U N D E D I N 1 8 9 1 • W W W. T H E P R O G R E S S . C O M • T U E S D AY, M A R C H 1 9 , 2 0 1 3
Residents encouraged by trash meeting Alina Konevski The Progress
Continued: TRASH/ p26
CGH physician Dr. Marc Greidanus is one of the emergency doctors behind the BCemergencycare.com campaign. JENNIFER FEINBERG/ PROGRESS
Doctors want action on ER blockage Jennifer Feinberg The Progress
One of the busiest hospital emergency rooms in the province can be found at Chilliwack General Hospital, say a group of emergency doctors. Although the new ER is welldesigned and spacious, it’s still at over capacity more than it should be, says Dr. Marc Greidanus, an emergency doctor at CGH. “We are running this hospital at 100 per cent plus capacity, but hospitals are designed to run at 85 per cent,” he tells The Progress. “So that if bad things happen, we have to adapt.” It means if someone arrives with lacerations to be stitched at a busy
time, they could be waiting, two, four, or up to six hours. Dr. Greidanus is one of the B.C. emergency physicians launching an information campaign in the media and at bcemergencycare. com to raise public awareness on the issues. Next to his hospital ID, the emerg doctor sports a big button that reads: “Tired of waiting in the ER? Ask me about bcemergencycare.com. Send a message now.” The Chilliwack ER earned a failing grade on the online report card for CGH at bcemergencycare.com. It received a “fail” for overcrowding and in-patient access blocking, which occurs when people get stuck in the waiting room for a bed to open up.
The treatment areas are sometimes congested with admitted patients waiting for a bed to open up in the upstairs wards. “I would like Chilliwack to realize their brand new ER is not currently working as efficiently as it could be,” Dr. Greidanus says. The ER is not always that choked, he says, but the over capacity protocol has gone into effect a number of times recently. “If you’re running at 100 per cent capacity or over, what happens if you get a flu outbreak?” the doctor asks. “What happens if there’s a huge traffic accident with multiple victims? Or an E.coli outbreak?” He makes it clear that Fraser Health has officially acknowledged
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the problem. They responded by coming up with the Over Capacity Protocol, and have been actively working toward finding solutions to ER blockages. When the numbers start backing up in the hospital, they institute the Over Capacity Protocol. Every floor in the hospital springs into action at that moment. Each one sending one nurse to another ward. It’s a flex measure that frees up beds when they’re needed. “We fill it and all of a sudden there are beds freed up in the emerg. But the problem is that we have to send one of our ER nurses. So not only are we stuffed but we have to run short-staffed.” There’s a five-point plan being Continued: ER/ p5
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In response to community complaints about illegal dumping throughout Chilliwack, provincial conservation officers held a meeting to remind residents about actions they can take to curtail pollution. About 50 people gathered at Yarrow Community School on Wednesday night to listen as Denny Chretien, a member of the B.C. Conservation Officer Service for Fraser Valley, guided them through the process of reporting polluters. Chretien reminded people that the most important action is to stay out of harm’s way. When safe to do so, witnesses to illegal dumping should record as much information as they can. This includes descriptions and, if possible, photos of the items dumped, of the vehicle, of the occupants, and of the exact location. Getting the vehicle plate and VIN numbers is important, as are basic details such as time of day and date. Witnesses should then call the Report All Poachers and Polluters (RAPP) hotline at 1877-9527727, or report the incident online. All legitimate calls are immediately forwarded to a provincial conservation officer, Chretien says. “We try to follow up on all of our calls. Our accountability is high,” says Chretien. “All the calls that come into our call centre are taken seriously, and files are created.” As evidence builds in one case, and the conservation office has mounting information on a person, a vehicle, the items, and a specific location, then officers are much more able to take action. In the Lower Mainland, RAPP receives 150-350 calls on illegal dumping annually. Actions against polluters range