Mobile clinic comes North
Health equipment can be used to add extra patient capacity during emergencies
Shane Magee
Northern News Services
Friday, September 9, 2016
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A small space in Centre Ice Plaza was transformed into a mini-hospital clinic Wednesday - a display version provided by the Public Health Agency of Canada stockpiled here so it can be deployed to other parts of the North should disaster strike.
Health and Social Services emergency planner Steve Moss, left, with Debbie Delancey, the deputy minister of Health and Social Services examine a demonstration Wednesday of a small, mobile health clinic that can be sent to other communities in emergencies. - Shane Magee/NNSL photo |
The clinic elements - beds, an X-ray machine, ventilator, dividers, chairs, tables and other basic medical supplies - will be stored on 16 pallets ready to be shipped out quickly.
The clinic, about 1,250 square feet in size, can be set up in places such as school gyms or community halls.
It's part of the federal government's National Emergency Strategic Stockpile that could be used to respond to medical issues such as flu pandemics, terrorism or natural disasters.
"It's the first time they (the mobile clinics) are located in the North and they've chosen Whitehorse and Yellowknife to be the sites," said Debbie Delancey, adding the hope is the clinic never has to be deployed.
The territorial government doesn't own the material or pay for it. Public Health, she said, will keep the supplies up to date so drugs or other supplies don't expire.
Steve Moss said the mobile clinic could treat about 150 people over a day with about eight or nine in the clinic at once.
It would likely be used for minor medical procedures such as stitches, broken bones, or general assessments.
"If a community has a fire or flood and there's damage to the health centre, this could be an alternate space," Delancey said.
Another example is a community dealing with a serious illness outbreak or natural disaster. Setting up the clinic would allow the more routine issues to be dealt with there while the health centre could deal with serious medical issues, she said.
If it needs to be deployed, additional materials can also be sent by Public Health, she said.
The clinic was assembled in a vacant space in Centre Ice Plaza on Wednesday over about three hours. Representatives of various health regions were there to get trained on how it is deployed and packed up.
Ron Melanson, a manager with the Sahtu health region, said it was a good chance to learn about what's involved in setting up the mobile clinic.
"If ever there was some disaster happening, we'd be ready for it," Melanson said.
He said the most difficult piece of equipment to set up was the X-ray unit and the electronics associated with it to send out results.
