- "It's got mercury as a preservative.
It's got
aluminum in it," he said.
-
-
- Nearly half of the city's 754 paramedics could be off
the job
over the busy Christmas period if they don't get a flu shot by
next
Wednesday.
-
- According to internal Toronto Emergency Medical Services
memos
obtained by the Sun, paramedics have been told they must provide
proof
they've been given a flu shot - or a note from their doctor saying
they're medically "contraindicated" (e.g. allergic to the shot)
- by December 20.
-
- "Failure to provide such documentation may result
in
non-disciplinary suspension of employment," says a Nov. 7 memo
to
Toronto paramedics.
-
- But only about 400 paramedics have been inoculated -
or have coughed up a doctor's note - to date, Ron Kelusky, general manager
of Toronto Ambulance confirmed yesterday.
-
- Several paramedics I spoke to
over the past few days
are up in arms over being forced to take the
shot and are prepared to be
disciplined to make their point.
-
- Ray Ellis, a
47-year-old Level 1 paramedic, says he's
against the shot because he
doesn't feel it protects him against the flu
or from being a carrier.
Besides, he says, why should he take an injection
about which there are
many questions?
-
- "It's got mercury as a preservative. It's got aluminum
in
it," he said.
-
- "I've already notified my supervisor I will take
a one-day
suspension," he added, despite a doctor's appointment on
December
19 when he'll probably get a note.
-
- Another North York-area Level 1
paramedic, who asked
not to be named, said he's already got his
doctor's note.
-
- "They're violating our rights to choose... we shouldn't
be
forced to have something injected into our bodies."
-
- "I'm not going
to get it done... it should be a
personal choice," says Roberta
Scott, a Level 3 paramedic, who's fully
prepared to be sent home
without pay Wednesday night when she reports to
work. "There's a
group of us who are going to stand firm."
-
- The Ministry of Health handed
down the mandatory flu
shot edict to all Ontario paramedics back in
May, says Kelusky. (Under
the Ambulance Act, paramedics must be
immunized against a whole slew of
diseases.)
-
- TO PREVENT
TRANSMISSION
-
- "It's to prevent the transmission of disease to
vulnerable populations because they're moving around... this flu does kill
old people," Kelusky offers as the reason for the edict.
-
- "I'm kind of the
ham in the sandwich here,"
he said. "I understand their
concerns about being forced to do it."
-
- Asked whether those who refuse
the shot will be suspended,
he responded: "There is an issue of
compliance... I am obligated
to comply with the Ambulance
Act."
-
- CUPE Local 416 president Brian Cochrane said, following
a
meeting with their lawyer yesterday, the union is filing a grievance
with the city today and is contemplating a challenge under the Charter
of Rights.
-
- Cochrane says it would be "pretty stupid" of
the city
to force paramedics off the job at this busy time of year, should
they
not comply wit the flu shot order.
-
- What's upset paramedics most
about the edict is that
they seem to have been singled out.
-
- No other health care
provider I contacted this week makes
mandatory flu shots a condition of
employment.
-
- NURSES CAN REFUSE
-
- Melanie Pottins of
the Ontario Nurses' Association says
they worked a compromise into
their collective agreements. It says hospital
nurses have the right to
refuse a flu shot, but may be placed on an unpaid
leave of absence
during an outbreak.
-
- Sandra Pitters, general manager of the city's Homes for
the Aged division, says the 2,800 employees in their 10 homes are
"strongly
encouraged," but not forced, to get a flu shot.
But she says they've
been clear that if there is an outbreak, those who
don't have shots will
be sent home, possibly without pay.
-
- At Mt. Sinai
Hospital, flu shots are not mandatory but
recommended and some 70% of
staff have been inoculated so far, says spokesperson
David
Davenport.
-
- "Where it doesn't make sense is when I hand off
my patient
to the triage nurse at the hospital and she hasn't had her flu
shot," says Ellis.
-
- Asked why paramedics have been singled out, Ministry
of Health spokesperson David Jensen said it's because there are so few
paramedics - only 5,000 - in the province.
-
- "It's a lot easier to find
backup for doctors and
nurses in hospitals should they get the flu...
not so with paramedics."
-
- Meanwhile, Kelusky isn't worried - just yet. He
suspects
there will be a rash of shot-takers just before the
deadline.
-
- "I'm going to do everything to show I'm complying
with the
Act, but I'm not about to shut the service down," he said.
-
-
- MainPage
http://www.rense.com
-
-
-
- This
Site Served by
TheHostPros
|