An incident in Humboldt has prompted changes in health care facilities across the province.
On January 13, the provincial government announced that "in response to a carbon monoxide build-up incident during the Christmas holidays that was a factor in the deaths of two Humboldt long-term care facility residents, the Ministry of Health has directed the province's health regions to implement preventative safety measures," stated a government news release.
Saskatchewan's health regions are now taking steps to address the risk of accidental exposure to carbon monoxide (CO) fumes through a systemic installation of detectors in health facilities.
"On behalf of everyone in the health care system, I want to express our sympathies for the employees, residents and their facilities affected by the carbon monoxide leak at St. Mary's Villa," said provincial Minister of Health, Don McMorris. "The ministry has directed health regions to immediately develop plans for the appropriate installation of carbon monoxide detectors in every health facility in the province. We want to ensure they have the procedures and equipment in place to prevent and detect unsafe exposure to this deadly gas."
Health region facility managers are now in the process of buying and installing standard residential carbon monoxide detectors. They will also seek expert advice about the type, number, location and integration of CO monitors needed in their buildings and develop longer-term plans to ensure that users of the facilities can be protected from exposure to accumulations of the colourless, odourless gas, the news release concludes.
In the Saskatoon Health Region, Anne Neufeld is the vice president of finance and administration, and facilities falls into her portfolio.
She and the SHR fully support the minister's direction on this matter, she told the Journal last week.
"We're already on this path, (but) it's good to have the minister's direction, as well," she noted.
Prior to the incident on December 26 at St. Mary's Villa in Humboldt, which led to the evacuation of an entire wing of residents and the deaths of two due to complications from CO poisoning, only one facility in the SHR had a CO detector. That was Quill Plains Lodge in Watson, Neufeld noted.
"They have one installed in their boiler room," she said.
An inventory of CO detectors was done within the SHR immediately following the incident at St. Mary's Villa.
It was found that in the entire region, there were "very few" CO detectors in health care facilities, - out of 40 facilities, they were located in six, and most of those near parking garages and loading docks.
"That's going to change very quickly, of course," Neufeld noted.
A team has already been assembled within the SHR to look after the installation of residential-style CO monitors in SHR facilities as an interim measure.
The long term plan, Neufeld said, is to install more sophisticated devices that are hard-wired into the building. Those, of course, take more time to put in place, so for the short-term, the smaller units will be used.
St. Mary's Villa in Humboldt has already had CO detectors installed in the building. They were put in place right away on December 26, Neufeld said, right after the poisoning was reported.
Because of the CO poisoning situation that has already occurred there, the building is being monitored very closely and an investigation is being done, she noted.
The SHR has shown a lot of leadership, Neufeld feels, in dealing with this issue. They have taken a collaborative approach to solving the problem, working with other health regions and the ministry on a plan to get CO detectors into all health care facilities in the province.
"Though it was an isolated incident, we knew it had provincial implications," Neufeld said of the St. Mary's Villa incident.
The response to this matter from the government has been quick. The regions submitted their long- and short-term plans to the government for approval on January 7, and by the next week, the minister had already announced his direction to the regions.
Neufeld has been in health administration for over 25 years, she said, and she has never experienced anything like this incident before.
"But once is one time too many," she said.
