Originally posted by Aeons
Yes. Pandemic supplies should include body bags.

I know. Sense doesn't matter.

Yes, of course, but the point was, that they asked for a needed supplies a LONG time ago, and when they finally get some, they were not the things they asked for, and it was like "well, no medicine for you guys, so just take these body bags instead"....it was the principle, not as much as the bags themself.....it would have been equally insutling if they just sent the hand sanitizer, since it was MEDICINE they have been asking about etc...

You also have to evaluate swine flu itself. H1N1, as it exists in all recorded cases is not an extremely severe pandemic. Most cases report similar, if not exactly the same symptoms of any flu. Flu, just the run of the mill breed, is almost if not just as deadly as H1N1. There are studies looking into its effects on the respiratory system, but as with most flu, complications or infections in areas where people are already weak generally increases the chances of complications and/or death.

One of our buddies contracted H1N1. Was sick for about 5 or 6 days, reported it to be less severe than most flu he has caught. People fling around the idea of an "upgraded" or more deadly strain of H1N1 on the loose, but there is very little, if any evidence that I have seen that supports this idea.

As for the body bags, it is pretty grim. It IS logical however, if expecting the possibility of large amounts of casualties in a specific area. Dead bodies are breeding grounds for diseases and viruses. If bodies are not properly disposed of they can increase the problem 10 fold.

What medicine does one think should be sent?

If they want Bendryl, they can buy it at the mart themselves.

Vaccines aren't ready yet for them. If there were, then there would be claims that the native population was being used as guinea pigs.

Some of the remote reserves do have problems with certain products being used in ways that are not good for people.

Again, if these products had been sent then there would be an uproar about sending things into the reserves that are known problems in order to handicap them.

There is no right answer.

Okay. Let's all do nothing then.

OP -

Have you ever been to a remote northern res?

The weather will turn very soon. When it does, there will be a few months where getting supplies in and out will be a bit more difficult. The winter roads in a lot of N. Manitoba won't be operational until late December at best. In the meantime, it can be tricky to get supplies in.

At this time of year, it's the norm to stock up on supplies in general.

And it's also the norm - when making shipments to anywhere in the Canadian North - to bundle your shipments into one large one. That's just logistics. One large shipment = one plane. Two small shipments = two planes. Which costs more money.

Body bags, like it or not, are necessary medical supplies. Heading into a winter (the season with the highest mortality rate in the North), does it not seem reasonable to include them in a shipment of other medical supplies?

Yes, there is a pandemic. People have died. Everywhere. Regardless of the availability of medicine. More people will die, regardless of the availability of medicine. That's a fact.

The Native leaders I've read in the news seem to be in denial over this. One was protesting the suggestion at an emergency planning session that the local ice rink be turned into a morgue in the worst case scenario.

This suggestion was presented as heartless, cruel, and bordering on racist. But think about it - at a planning session for preparing for the worst-case scenario in a pandemic - is it really so heartless and cruel? Likewise sending additional body bags - there is no loss to the community if they don't get used this winter, or in the next decade. But if the need arises, the benefit to the community in having them available is immense.

Prepare for the worst, hope for the best. That's the sentiment behind this shipment, as I read it.

The same thing is being planned elsewhere.

All the morgues are gearing up for extra bodies.

There are contingeny plans for what do to if there are too many.

In the North, the ground freezes solid for months upon months. What on earth do people think they would do with a bunch of bodies?

Pretend they aren't there?

Superstition - that planning is like asking for it.

Body bags instead of trying to provide them with some kind of medical assistance (doctors,nurses,etc). Nice thinking.
Canada would be such a nice place without a gouvernment. Yeah,you can bash me for that last one,i'm Canadian

Originally posted by Bursuc
Body bags instead of trying to provide them with some kind of medical assistance (doctors,nurses,etc). Nice thinking.

Yeah, aside from maxing out shipments of supplies to all of the northern clinics and nursing stations, offering massive cash incentives for medical staff to move North on a permanent basis, enlisting medical staff to be flown in during emergencies that might arise during this pandemic, developing contingency plans to cover everything from the first sneeze to keeping supply lines open in a complete quarantine lockdown, and putting native communities on the list of groups to get the first vaccines - the government has done absolutely nothing.



What exactly do people expect Health Canada to do? Assign a personal primary care nurse to shadow every Native man, woman and child 24 hours a day?

Force people to work there.