Thread by @ABdoc4patients

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1 in 4 Canadians in Long Term Care/retirement homes w #COVID19 died.

How can we protect our vulnerable population?

Devastating outbreaks occur across Canada, including Edmonton.

What have I learned, working 14 days straight, covering 24/7, at the onset of an outbreak?

1. We have always needed more staff.

We need more nurses. RNs. LPNs. Care aides.

We need better staff:resident ratios.

Prior to the outbreak, we thought this might be the case. Now, during a pandemic, we have been proved devastatingly right.

One RN tirelessly spent 4 hrs setting up life saving hydration for COVID patients in one shift.

Another RN spent even longer doing medication administration.

If LTC had better staff:resident ratios, they wouldn’t have been so brutally affected by COVID infection & isolation.

2. We need better paid staff.

All of them.

They should not be struggling to make ends meet, doing one of the hardest jobs out there, caring for our loved ones.

They shouldn’t be forced to have to work 2nd, 3rd jobs.

Healthcare workers are at risk of mental health concerns and burnout.

Add a pandemic.

Add financial stressors.

We need to treat those who care for our vulnerable better than this.

3. We need rapid point of care testing of staff, visitors.

Mandatory, regular screening: questions + temperature + rapid tests. They may have poorer sensitivity & specificity, but if it can catch that one asymptomatic spreader before they step into an LTC, we have SAVED LIVES.

To ensure it’s counted and a true positive , the staff/visitor go home and do PCR testing to confirm.

4. This brings me to PCR testing. We need prioritized, rapid turnaround for LTC staff & residents.

During this outbreak, tests have taken days - 3, sometimes 4 - for my patients. We even note we are in an outbreak and the LTC site involved.

If the NHL can do mass daily testing with 24hr turnaround, we can do just as well for our vulnerable population.

5. We have ignored our long term care homes, our long term care nurses, and our own loved ones who live there, for too long.

It’s taken a pandemic to show just how much they need society to take notice, and step in.

This is not a unique problem. It’s widespread. It’s ageism.

Let’s stop reacting to outbreaks - it’s too late. COVID spreads like wildfire, & devastates just the same.

Let’s reduce risk. Let’s prevent outbreaks.

Let’s save lives.

More staff & resources (better paid staff).

More frequent, faster testing for screening staff, visitors.

I can’t control what Edmontonians, Albertans, do in the community.

I can’t prevent people from gathering in large groups, or not wearing masks.

As those activities increase, COVID spreads, & puts our loved ones at risk.

I have to look in their home. Let’s start there.

I believe this pandemic will teach us how to better look after the vulnerable and how to take care of others.

Let’s take care of them. They took care of us. And soon, we might be in the same home, relying on others to do the same.

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(I don’t even know who to tag to help me help Long Term Care...

Please help!

@AHS_media ? @shandro ? @UnitedNurses ? )