Alberta's overwhelmed ICUs near capacity, military support being deployed
The Canadian Armed Forces has confirmed that it will be sending resources to help with Alberta's overwhelmed intensive care units facing unprecedented patient numbers during the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Aircraft and crews are being assembled to transfer ICU patients to hospitals in other parts of the country. The team is expected to be deployed to Alberta as early as Friday.
Details of the aeromedical transportation co-ordination are currently being developed.
"Our teams have already begun liaising and further planning," read a statement from National Defence.
Up to eight nurses with ICU training could also arrive in the province by the end of the weekend.
The province reached out to Public Safety Minister Bill Blair earlier this week calling for help from the federal government.
Blair replied Thursday saying the Canadian Red Cross could also be activated to provide additional support.
Alberta hospitals are seeing "unprecedented patient demand," said Dr. Verna Yiu, Alberta Health Services president and CEO.
As of Thursday, 226 of the 310 patients in ICU were admitted with COVID-19 and the five-day average for patients admitted into ICUs has been slightly more than 23 per day.
"It’s tragic that we are only able to keep pace with these sort of numbers because in part some of our ICU patients have passed away," said Yiu.
The scale of the crisis could be tipped within a day, when it's expected the maximum threshold of 350 total ICU patients will be reached and activate triage protocol.
Yiu also said that nothing is standard about the situation.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Average hourly wage in Canada now $34.95: StatCan
Average hourly wages among Canadian employees rose to $34.95 on a year-over-year basis in April, a 4.7 per cent increase, according to a Statistics Canada report released Friday morning.
From outer space? Sask. farmers baffled after discovering strange wreckage in field
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
This iconic Canadian song is turning 50
Andy Kim's 'Rock Me Gently' is marking a major milestone, as it celebrates its 50th anniversary.
Oprah Winfrey: I set an unrealistic standard for dieting
Oprah Winfrey said on Thursday evening that she has long played a role in promoting unhealthy and unrealistic diets.
Ontario family receives massive hospital bill as part of LTC law, refuses to pay
A southwestern Ontario woman has received an $8,400 bill from a hospital in Windsor, Ont., after she refused to put her mother in a nursing home she hated -- and she says she has no intention of paying it.
Toronto police called to Drake's Bridle Path mansion for another alleged intruder on Thursday
Toronto police say a man who allegedly attempted to access Drake’s Bridle Path property was taken to hospital on Thursday after an altercation with security guards.
Flat tire on a highway? Here's why you shouldn't try to fix it
If you're cruising down a highway and realize you have a flat tire, you may want to think twice before stopping to fix it on the side of the road.
Storm-battered U.S. South is again under threat. A boy swept into a drain fights for his life
Dangerous storms crashed over parts of the U.S. South on Thursday even as the region cleaned up from earlier severe weather that spawned tornadoes, killed at least three people, and gravely injured a boy who was swept into a storm drain as he played in a flooded street.
Broadcaster and commentator Rex Murphy dead at 77: National Post
The National Post is reporting that Rex Murphy, the pundit and columnist who hosted a national call-in radio show for decades, has died.