NEW EPISODE out now! What happened when SARS came to Vancouver and what public health can still learn from a 2003 success. This one's about safety at work, the precautionary principle, and what we need in a good public health leader. - ThreadSky

sharpflower.bsky.social • 37 days ago

NEW EPISODE out now! What happened when SARS came to Vancouver and what public health can still learn from a 2003 success. This one's about safety at work, the precautionary principle, and what we need in a good public health leader.

Reposted from Da(N95)iella

COMING SOON. “How to stop an epidemic: When SARS came to the ER.” We had the cheat codes for stopping COVID in a 1200 page report. But we ignored it 🫠. Hear from the ER physician who helped prevent a 2003 SARS outbreak in Vancouver and what public health should’ve learned (+ can still learn)!

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sharpflower.bsky.social•37 days ago

This episode features Dr. Lyne Filiatrault taking us back through the moments when she and her team handled the first SARS case in the city at Vancouver General Hospital in March 2003, averting what could have been a catastrophic outbreak

https://www.publichealthisdead.com/episodes/how-to-stop-an-epidemic-sars-er

sharpflower.bsky.social•37 days ago

WorksafeBC was a crucial player in building a firewall against SARS and insisting on airborne protections because they took this threat to worker safety seriously

sharpflower.bsky.social•37 days ago

Healthcare workers at VGH were trained to automatically go to the highest level of protection. Better safe than sorry! One expert said, “we’re the heretics” because of how unorthodox that approach was at the time

sharpflower.bsky.social•37 days ago

Because of Dr. Filiatrault’s team’s swift actions and WorksafeBC refusing to play games with workers’ heath, there was no transmission to any healthcare worker who treated the patient or to any other patients at VGH. Vancouver avoided an outbreak. Toronto on the other hand…

sharpflower.bsky.social•37 days ago

SARS exploited how unprepared Toronto was to handle the unexpected. Ontario didn’t have a pandemic plan. They didn’t have a good communication system for alerts like the BCCDC had, to warn Dr. Filiatrault. Healthcare workers were under-informed and under-protected. 44 people died

sharpflower.bsky.social•37 days ago

At North York General Hospital in Toronto, there were patients presenting with SARS-like illnesses but hospitals told workers it wasn’t SARS. They found out that it was actually SARS from a press conference weeks later. Dr. Bonnie Henry was the investigative lead for the outbreak

chatbotte.bsky.social•37 days ago

It's impossible to learn from past experience, as we all have learned over the past five years.

mihaiwilson.bsky.social•37 days ago

Thank you Daniella, this is stellar work and provides a critical record.

sharpflower.bsky.social•36 days ago

Thanks Mihai!

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