To lend a hand to the Legault government in vaccination and in CHSLDs, the Red Cross will “gradually” send 300 additional support agents into the health network over the next few days. In the current context, the humanitarian organization says it is preparing for any eventuality.
“We don’t know what exactly we’re preparing for, but we know we have to be ready. If there are things that change, we will adapt. It is our daily life. The pandemic is in addition to what we already do on a regular basis, ”explained to Press the group’s communications director, Carole Du Sault.
She also confirms that her group recently received a request from the Quebec government, which it accepted, to “increase its presence in various operations” linked to the COVID-19 pandemic. It includes vaccination, but also and above all a presence in health establishments.
We are going to re-mobilize people from our team to do what we did in previous waves. For example, in CHSLDs, we will have people to help out the teams in place and be present with the residents. This is an operation that was specifically requested of us.
Carole Du Sault, Director of Communications
The latter also specifies that some experts in infection prevention and control (IPC) from the Red Cross will be sent “where the authorities have needs”, in particular to assess how the measures are applied and “to provide advice on how to put them into practice. in place ”in function. Others will also be responsible for training government personnel.
“We expect that we will be able to deploy 300 people gradually, in the coming days or weeks. However, it will be at the request of the health authorities to know where we will go, where first, and do what exactly. The teams are talking to each other at the moment, ”the director confides in passing.
Between July 2020 and the end of March 2021, the Red Cross had been present in 89 sites. About a hundred Red Cross staff are also “still in the field” to help the teams from the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS). With this new agreement, a total of 400 employees will be deployed there.
Army help demanded
Earlier on Tuesday, Public Safety Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Geneviève Guilbault urged Ottawa to deploy Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) soldiers quickly, to support its efforts to accelerate the vaccination campaign of a booster dose. The Trudeau government said it was open to the idea, recalling that its resources are limited.
“Omicron threatens the hospital capacity of Quebec. We must speed up the vaccination of Quebecers. I have officially asked the federal government for assistance from the Canadian Armed Forces and resources from other organizations able to contribute to mass vaccination, ”said the Minister of Public Security and Deputy Prime Minister, Geneviève. Guilbault, at the end of the day Tuesday.
In a letter sent to the Minister of National Defense, Anita Anand, that Press obtained, Geneviève Guilbault also specified that the Legault government wishes a confirmation from the federal government “as soon as possible, in order to effectively coordinate the deployment of the exceptional efforts made to this vaccination campaign”.
Federal Minister of Health, Jean-Yves Duclos, says he had “a very good conversation” with his counterpart Christian Dubé the same day to fully understand Quebec’s needs and find the best way to meet them.
PHOTO ADRIAN WYLD, ARCHIVES THE CANADIAN PRESS
The Federal Minister of Health, Jean-Yves Duclos.
“The Canadian Armed Forces have limited medical capabilities,” he said at a press conference on Wednesday. Much of the CAF’s capabilities are already deployed in Indigenous communities, in the territories and in remote communities. But even if that were not the case, given the size of our country and the scale of the needs, it is clear that we cannot use only the medical capabilities of the CAF to meet the medical needs, among others. the need for vaccination in the provinces and territories. ”
He later indicated that the Red Cross, which already has contracts with the federal government, is more helpful in such a situation.
With Mylène Crête in Ottawa