Ontario Health Care Workers Demand Protective Gear
Ontario health care unions hold joint press conference, March 13, 2020.
The four major health care unions in Ontario point
out
that one of the best protections for Ontarians during the COVID-19
pandemic is to ensure that health care workers are healthy and provided
with all that they need to keep working. They call for honest, frank
collaboration from the Government of Ontario to make sure health care
workers
are provided with all the protection they need so that they can carry
out their duties to the population.
The four unions which represent more than
one-quarter of
a million health-care workers in Ontario are the Ontario Nurses'
Association (ONA), the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU) of the
Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), the Service Employees
International Union (SEIU) and the Ontario Public Service Employees
Union (OPSEU).
The workers' confidence lies in their ability to
be
active within the situation so that the claims they are entitled to
make are met without delay. A statement issued by the unions on March
13 puts the main emphasis on the demand of the front-line workers for
personal protective equipment (PPE). Supplies are not presently readily
available in a
number of workplaces. It goes without saying that appropriate
protective equipment and training instill confidence in heath care
workers who then help maintain a calm atmosphere in the population.
The unions bring to the attention of the public a
leaked
document that shows that the government is watering down guidelines
regarding the appropriate level of personal equipment for
front-line-health-care workers. They express deep concern about the
"laxed guidelines issued and scarce availability and appropriateness of
personal protective
equipment (PPE) for protection during the pandemic."
The four unions urge the government to follow the
precautionary principle, which means to err on the side of caution in
protecting workers. PPE for contact, droplet, and airborne transmission
must be provided to all front-line health care workers, the unions say.
They point out that how the virus is transmitted is not yet fully
understood. At
this time, medical and infectious disease organizations say that there
are a number of ways the virus may be transmitted, including droplets
-- transmission through sneezing or coughing; contact -- transmission
from an infected person by touch; or airborne -- small particles in
the air. If the transmission is airborne, front-line health care
workers
should all have N95 masks, which Ontario paramedics are wearing. The
N95 masks are the standard for protection against airborne particles.
Surgical masks do not protect health care workers against these
particles. They urge the Ontario government to stop being reluctant to
provide this protective equipment on grounds that the medical and
scientific community is not unanimous in agreeing that airborne
transmission is the way that the virus is spread. It must be
provided along with all other equipment they require, the unions say.
Many Ontario health care staff lived through the
Severe
Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2002-2004 and have
learned many lessons about infection control and best practices. They
have solutions and want collaboration and frankness with government
during this difficult period.
This article was published in
Number 12 - March 18, 2020
Article Link:
Ontario Health Care Workers Demand Protective Gear
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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