– David Shepherd, Edmonton-City Centre MLA
Masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19 may be one thing, but field hospitals may be an even more effective way to prevent the spread of this nasty virus. Given the rapidly rising number of new cases in Alberta, we need to do everything we can to bring this pandemic under control. Masks are one thing, social distancing is another, contact tracing is problematic, lockdowns have merit – but where there is an outbreak, particularly in a long-term care facility or other concentration of people in close quarters, more drastic measures need to be taken to avoid contamination of the entire facility including the staff who work therein.
Consider that if at the very first sign of an outbreak in a long-term care facility, anyone showing symptoms as well as any close contacts were to be transferred to another site that housed only those with similar symptoms. We may have been able to halt or at least slow the transmission of the disease within that facility and save many lives.
With the alarming increase in active cases, it’s never too late. Anything we can do to isolate those with active symptoms and place them in a safe facility will be a step in the right direction.
Dedicated nursing and other caring staff could be assigned to field hospitals, which would provide further protection from spread of COVID to healthy patients as everyone in the facility would be of the same status.
This may sound like the leper colonies of other times but even though the idea may sound antiquated there is merit in examining the concept and implementing a pilot operation.
There seems to be some reluctance among some critics to move ahead with implementation, but it's past the time for contingency planning. Action is required now before things get any worse. Vancouver has converted the Convention Centre into a field hospital, so let’s give it a shot.
Facilities like the Butterdome at the University of Alberta and the Olympic Oval at the University of Calgary are ideally suited for pilot projects. They are both located within minutes of highly specialized active treatment facilities. It likely isn’t feasible to set up Intensive Care Units in these field hospitals, but if and when required, there are efficient transfer services to move patients with critical needs to the University Hospital in Edmonton or the Foothills in Calgary, both of which are located virtually next door.
The expertise of the military for field hospitals may be a good option as they are trained and equipped to move in fast and set up operations under difficult circumstances. They have come to the aid of Québec long-term care facilities, which should set a good model to work from.
Leper colonies were based on good intentions, even though we look askance at that concept now, but field hospitals can serve a similar purpose but with the addition of proper bedside care.
Ken Allred is a former St. Albert alderman and MLA.
