Shared on behalf of Infection Prevention and Control

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An outbreak of Influenza A has been declared on 1A MEDICAL AND ACUTE ONCOLOGY as of November 11, 2022. All restrictions are in place.

Please share this information with the appropriate staff.

As always, our number one priority is the safety of patients and their families, staff and visitors. All patients identified as having an exposure to this outbreak will require isolation with appropriate additional precautions.

The department of Infection Prevention and Control encourages everyone to keep applying the routine practices of hand hygiene, proper use of PPE, equipment cleaning, and the appropriate admission screening of all patients. Please set an example for staff and students and assist us by maintaining compliance and due diligence.

For more information, contact Infection Prevention and Control at 807-684-6094.

Across generations, Canadians have dedicated their lives to preserve peace. On Remembrance Day we thank all veterans, members of the armed forces, and those that made the ultimate sacrifice. For those wishing to show their support, poppies are available in the Hospital’s Cafeteria and Season’s Gift Shop.

Shared on behalf of Peter Myllymaa, VP Operations, Clinical & Support Services and CFO and Allan Korol, Acting Director Capital & Facilities Services

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Please be advised the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre (at the 980 Oliver Road location only) will execute a planned impairment of its entire Fire System and Overhead Paging System on November 10, 2022 for approximately four hours – starting at 11:00 PM to facilitate deactivation of the fire system related to the DI PET-CT new installation project.

Our Facilities and Security teams will be enacting and overseeing our Fire System Impairment and Fire Watch procedures, as included in our Fire Plan for our site.

During this impairment, no Hot Work will be authorized. Further, any high risk work that could result in an elevated risk of fire, heat, or smoke should not be planned – please review this within your department and plan to discontinue high-risk activities (i.e. construction, repairs, hot showers, etc).

Should you observe activities that may be of concern during the impairment, contact your Supervisor to discuss.

While the Hospital’s Overhead Paging System is out of service, alternate measures will be applied to notify the organization of Emergency Codes and Alerts. Staff will continue to activate all Codes using extension 55. Please see the attached policy for guidance. In preparation for the downtime, clinical leads are encouraged to collaborate with their teams to consider alternatives to paging patients back to units, such as collecting Patients’ mobile phone numbers.

Further, in event of fire during this impairment, please execute all steps as outlined in Code Red Policy (EMER-30) and your area sub plan. Should you discover a fire – “REACT”:
R – Remove persons in immediate danger
E – Ensure doors are closed to confine fire or smoke
A – Activate the fire alarm by pulling the nearest pull station
C– Call Switchboard at Ext 55 to report the location of the fire
T– Try to extinguish the fire if trained to do so or continue to evacuate

The contractor for the fire system work is Troy Life & Fire Safety. The Building System Operator is onsite and reachable at cell number 629-7005. Further support will be provided by me (Allan Korol) as required (cell number 621-0508).

If you have any questions or concerns regarding the above, please contact me. For questions or
feedback specific to the Overhead Paging procedure, contact Switchboard or Trina Diner.

Memo – Fire System and Paging Downtime November 10

Procedure – Loss of Fire System and Overhead Paging Subplan

Shared on behalf of Kristin Shields, Director, Quality & Risk Management

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On Sunday, November 6, 2022 at 2:00 a.m., clocks and watches fall back one hour to change from Daylight Saving Time to Standard Time.

The accuracy of time is very important to ensuring safety at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre. It is important not only for scheduling procedures and staffing, but also for charting accuracy and medication dispensing.

At 2:00 a.m. all electronic clocks that are controlled by the system (NICU, ICU, etc.) will be moved back to Standard Time automatically. Any final adjustments will be completed by 5:00 a.m. If any of these system clocks are not updated by 8:00 a.m., please contact the Maintenance Department (ext. 6344). All departments will be responsible for changing the time on any battery operated clocks in their area. Computers will automatically change to Standard Time.

Please ensure that your personal watches/devices are updated and that any clocks in your area are adjusted in a timely manner.

TBRHSC is currently recruiting volunteers to serve on the Research Ethics Board (REB).  We are looking for three new alternate research board members:

1. One member who is knowledgeable in relevant laws and willing to review proposed research projects to identify legal issues related to research protocols and their implications, especially those related to health and privacy law;
2. One member knowledgeable in relevant research disciplines, fields and methodologies in areas of research covered by the TBRHSC REB;
3. One Indigenous community member not affiliated with Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre and able to provide input regarding your knowledge about the Indigenous community of Thunder Bay and discuss issues and research from this perspective.

Although the alternate member is welcome to attend all REB meetings and may be asked to participate as a primary reviewer on specific studies, their primary responsibility is to provide coverage when the regular REB member is not available to perform reviews or attend meetings.

If you are interested in more information about this opportunity, please email your cover letter and resume to Carol Pelletier, Research Ethics Officer at TBRHSC.REO@tbh.net by November 7, 2022. Please indicate which position you are applying for in your email.

Selected applicants will be contacted for an interview, with the final decision being made by the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre Board of Directors Chair.

Please see memos linked below for further details.

• Alternate REB member recruitment – Legal
• Alternate REB member recruitment – Research
• Alternate REB member recruitment – Indigenous Community Member

Congratulations to Gordon Jones, winner of the $100 Amazon gift card. Thank you everyone for your participation in October’s Cyber Security Awareness Month Quiz and making it such a huge success.

Please see quiz questions and answers below.