Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
services to tackle an influenza pandemic. Municipal governments must identify
specific sites for public cemeteries to dispose of the bodies of influenza victims.
corpse management will require technical details that must be hammered out
between the funeral service specialists and health officials. Canada should take full
advantage of its physical vastness to cope with any influenza pandemic.
Sixteenth, canada's airports must consider emergency measures, such as the
installation of infra-red temperature-testing detectors and detailed recording of
passengers' personal data, including addresses and final destinations in Canada.
while it would be costly for all airports to instal the equipment, airports in all
cities, especially vancouver, toronto, ottawa, and Montreal, will need temperature-
testing equipment, and any airport with international flights and connections to other
Canadian cities would need tighter measures against an influenza pandemic.
Seventeenth, all public-private partnerships should require their private sector
partners to test their emergency plans. a simulation exercise that takes several hours
involves minimal economic costs but will equip more canadians with the basic skills
necessary to ward off any national health crisis.
eighteenth, simulation exercises must be conducted involving the federal and
provincial governments, as well as each provincial or territorial government
and its municipalities and each municipal administration and local communities.
ontario and British Columbia have published their emergency influenza pandemic
plans in detail, but nunavut appears to lack a sophisticated plan on its website. 27
Quebec provides comprehensive and elaborate structure on the specific agencies
responsible for coordination and communication. a careful reading of the websites
shows that not all provinces or territories agree on the definitions of coordination
and communication, with some stressing the interprovincial dimension and others
showing a more balanced view of internal departmental cooperation and federal-
provincial partnerships. Perhaps due to the province's experience with SarS,
ontario's plan mentions the need for media conferences, video-conferences, and
teleconferencing interactions with public health officials. The discrepancies in
provincial plans demonstrate their varying cultures and attitudes in response to the
danger of any influenza pandemic.
nineteenth, canadians in general are complacent and relatively relaxed about
the likelihood of an influenza pandemic. This attitude must change. More nation-
wide publicity must educate the public on coping with an influenza pandemic and
increase awareness of how to respond to an abrupt crisis. while multiculturalism
is usually hailed as a strength in canada's political system and social mosaic, the
country's diversified cultural groups must be made aware of how to act collectively
in the event of something as serious as a pandemic outbreak or, for that matter, a
bio-terrorist attack. Otherwise the eruption of an influenza pandemic could plunge
canadian society and its governments into turbulence.
Twentieth, officials of the Canadian federal government must become more
sensitive to a possible influenza crisis. Canada needs to discuss emergency planning
with the United States, particularly with regard to border controls in the event of
an influenza pandemic. 28 Moreover, Canada's official representatives in asia must
 
 
Search WWH ::




Custom Search