(TLN)

For an eighth consecutive year, the Laval Police Department unveiled its canine squad calendar last week, with all profits from sales going towards the Fondation Martin-Matte.

Thanks to funds from the sales of the popular calendar, the foundation has been able to build several residences for persons living with traumatic brain injuries. Since 2009, sales have brought in $300,000 for the foundation.

Traumatic brain injuries

The LPD’s involvement began in 2008 following the death of the police department’s master dog handler Éric Lavoie, who had suffered a traumatic brain injury. The calendar is available at all Laval-area IGA stores, at the LPD’s headquarters, and at neighbourhood police stations throughout Laval.

The Fondation Martin-Matte raises funds to help persons suffering from head injuries that often cause serious neurological disturbances. The foundation finances the construction of specially-equipped houses, in addition to helping provide respite, rehabilitation and activity centres for the victims and their families.

A personal connection

The involvement of well-known Quebec standup comic Martin Matte began as a result of an accident his brother, Christian, had in 1986. Subsequent to that, Christian lived in nearly 20 group residences over two decades as the system shuffled him about.

The foundation now supports a growing network of residences in communities all over Quebec, including Blainville and Sherbrooke. Soon there will be residences in Trois-Rivières and Quebec City. Ten people in Quebec suffer a head trauma each day that will leave them seriously incapacitated.

Martin C. Barry

A Chomedey woman who claims she was repeatedly denied service in English at Laval’s Cité de la Santé is vowing never to return there, but will seek medical treatment at Sacré Cœur Hospital across the Des Prairies river in Montreal where she says there is better service in English.

In an interview with the Laval News, Bonnie Gavin said her first encounter with staff at Cité de la Santé who were unable or unwilling to assist her in English dates back to September last year when she went to the hospital for tests after experiencing stomach pain from a kidney stone.

‘Refused to speak English’

While noting that she was feeling apprehensive because of the uncertainty over her health, Gavin said that when she went to the patient registration counter to provide her hospital card information, she encountered a clerk who addressed her in French.

“I replied, ‘I’m sorry but my French is not that good. Your English is probably a lot better than my French,’ said Gavin, who was born and raised in Chomedey and who returned to Quebec in 2005 after living in Alberta for several decades. “Then she gave me a look and just continued to speak French. She refused to speak English.”

This past September Gavin was back at Cité de la Santé when she was experiencing pain again. She said she asked her doctor to not send her to Cité de la Santé because of the language barrier.

An emergency situation

When Gavin’s doctor pointed out that there was no choice but to send her to Cité de la Santé since the doctor was associated with the hospital, Gavin went back somewhat unwillingly. But again, she ran into a problem. This time it was with a lab attendant whose instructions she couldn’t understand because they were spoken to her in French.

Then three weeks ago, Gavin’s sister, who also lives in Laval, was rushed to Cité de la Santé with a head injury. Gavin claims that when she phoned the hospital for information on her sister’s state, she was unable to make herself properly understood to a French-speaking employee in the emergency department.

“I said I wanted to know if my sister was there because I just got a phone call saying she was rushed to the hospital,” Gavin said. “The girl was speaking French. I said ‘can you get somebody please who understands English because I have to know if my sister’s there?”

No service in English

Gavin admits that in her frustration at being unable to find someone who would help her in English, she rung off a few times, then phoned back every five minutes or so hoping perhaps that someone other than the person who kept answering would pick up.

“I called five times, and all five times the girl who answered at emergency refused to speak English to me,” she said. Although an employee answering at the Cité de la Santé’s main switchboard was able to communicate with her in English, Gavin said the emergency department worker couldn’t or wouldn’t.

She insists that the emergency department employee told her somewhat sarcastically that Cité de la Santé “is in Laval.” Gavin replied, “Yeah, I know, I live in Laval and I want to know if my sister is here.” She claims the worker then responded, “Madame, Cité de la Santé is a French hospital.”

Doctors will speak English

Although she was eventually able to locate her sister, it was only because her sister called her on a phone from the hospital to say where she was. In the meantime, Gavin has her doubts that the Cité de la Santé workers in question didn’t understand her. She suspects they chose not to serve her in English.

Gavin’s husband, Doug Telfer, who accompanied her on her hospital visits, noted that although many Cité de la Santé support workers either can’t or won’t speak English, doctors and other medical staff appear to be more capable and “they’ll speak English to you” when necessary, he said.

Gavin, who was being followed for her health problem by two doctors at one point (one of them is affiliated with Sacré Cœur Hospital), said the Cartierville-based health institution does a much better job of providing service to its English-speaking patients.

“I will never go back to Cité de la Santé,” she said. She insisted the issue isn’t so much about language as it is about health. “When I go out I try to speak French. But when it comes to my health and I don’t understand them, that’s a different story.”

Cité de la Santé responds

Paula Beaudoin, a spokesperson for the CISSS de Laval which oversees Cité de la Santé, said the health care agency currently has a policy requiring certain departments at the hospital to provide service in English. “Emergency is a department where service must be available in English,” she said, while noting that not all personnel are expected to be able to speak English.

However, she pointed out, employees are told that if and when they encounter someone English-speaking who they are unable to serve properly because of a language barrier, they are to seek out another employee who can converse in English.

According to a French-language document (Politique d’accès aux soins et services en langue anglaise du CISSS de Laval) e-mailed by Beaudoin to the Laval News, Cité de la Santé is not “designated” as a health establishment where service must be provided in English, although it is “indicated” as such, meaning a certain degree of service in English must be available.

Bilingual staff ‘must be present’

The document states, “A sufficient number of bilingual persons must be present at all times in the following services to assure English-language service, depending on the needs of users, including: reception, medical archives, day centres, info-health, intensive care, at-home support, emergency.”

It continues, “During an emergency or critical situation for the user, if the linguistic barrier compromises access to efficient care or services, the providers must seek within the immediate area a person capable of translating the exchange between the user and the staff providing treatment.”

Regarding the treatment Bonnie Gavin said she was subjected to, Beaudoin issued the following statement: “The management of CISSS de Laval is sorry that the woman had to endure these inconveniences. We expect to restate the directives to the staff and the health professionals involved.”

Martin C. Barry

Laval has become the first city in the metropolitan Montreal region to offer live 2-1-1 telephone service, allowing callers to gain immediate access to a wide range of social and community organizations by entering 2-1-1 into the keypad on any phone.

Help seven days a week

The 2-1-1 operators will be available from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. seven days a week to provide information on 300 organizations dealing with food security, homelessness, psychosocial support, employment assistance and human rights.

A comprehensive Laval 2-1-1 website (211laval.ca) has also been set up to provide information identical to that available over the phone for any social or community group based in Laval or elsewhere in the Montreal region. The service is available in English, French and several hundred other languages for which translation is provided.

The City of Laval undertook to provide the service in conjunction with the Information and Referral Centre of Greater Montreal. Laval has agreed to pay more than $305,000 to the IRCGM for the service over the next five years, including the phone system and web access.

Five-year agreement

Under the agreement, the IRCGM will be evaluating the effectiveness of the service, while also quantifying it statistically. Two committees have been formed to follow up in these respects.

“In addition to contributing to the social well-being of families and communities, 2-1-1 Laval will allow us to consolidate our community network by assuring a continuous promotion of resources offered on our territory and beyond,” Mayor Marc Demers said during a press conference at city hall last week. “This is a win-win situation for our residents and the organizations we regard as our partners,” the mayor added.

An innovative project

“Laval’s political and administrative authorities showed they are social innovators and become the first city in the greater Montréal area to adopt a 2-1-1 service facilitating access to our community resources,” said Pierrette Gagné, IRCGM’s executive director.

“From this point forward, Laval citizens will have rapid access to all the information and social and community-based services needed,” Gagné continued. “But it will also be the case for community-based and public groups that will be directing these persons to the pertinent resources after having consulted the 211 data base or having been informed by the Centre’s counsellors.”

Health Canada is advising consumers to check all Spirit Halloween products on the list below due to ongoing health and safety concerns.

On several occasions, Spirit Halloween has agreed to voluntarily stop sale or recall products that do not meet Canadian health and safety regulatory requirements. However, Health Canada recently visited 45 stores across Canada and found that 23 stores continued to sell products that Spirit Halloween had previously agreed to stop selling or recall.

Health Canada is concerned with the continued sale of the following products sold by Spirit Halloween, some of which have been recalled or should no longer be available to consumers following a voluntary stop sale.  Health Canada will update this list if additional affected products are identified.

Consumers should not purchase the affected products listed above from Spirit Halloween and should check the Recalls and Safety Alerts Database for any products that were previously purchased. If you have a product that has been recalled, you should follow the actions described in the recall notice.

Health Canada has requested an action plan from Spirit Halloween to outline how they will address these compliance issues. The Department is also following up on additional products to assess compliance and may take further actions, if required. Health Canada also continues to inspect stores and may seize non-compliant products, if identified.

(SOURCE: Health Canada)

The Montreal Heart Institute (MHI) informs all patients who underwent an open heart surgery at the Institute of a low infection risk associated with certain devices (heater-cooler systems) used during cardiac surgeries under cardiopulmonary bypass. Patients operated since 2012 at the MHI are being advised of this risk by phone and/or mail.

“Although the potential for infection is low (0.1% to 1% according to the American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)), our main priority is the well-being and safety of our patients. Therefore, as a pre-emptive measure, we wish to get in touch with our patients in order to monitor their medical condition as adequately as possible,” said Dr. Denis Roy, Chief Executive Officer at the MHI. All patients operated since 2012 will be notified. An operation to get in touch with the concerned patients is currently underway.

The Centre d’expertise en retraitement des dispositifs médicaux (CERDM – the Centre of Expertise for Medical Devices Reprocessing) of the Institut national de santé publique (the National Institute of Public Health) and the ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux (Ministry of Health) have been notified of the issue.

The heater-cooler systems in question are used in several North American and European hospitals and may have been contaminated by the Mycobacterium chimaera bacterium during their manufacturing in Germany. This type of bacterium is commonly found in nature and is rarely the cause of adverse events in people who contract it. However, patients exposed during cardiac surgery may develop symptoms much later (i.e. months or years after surgery).

“This bacterium is not contagious but could potentially lead to serious infection and should be diagnosed by laboratory testing (microbiology) when symptoms occur,” according to Dr. Louis P. Perrault, cardiac surgeon and head of the Department of Surgery at the Montreal Heart Institute.

All the devices used at the MHI have been replaced and the audit and decontamination protocols are continuously optimized with the acquisition of new knowledge regarding this issue.

“We are aware that the announcement of this potential risk of infection, albeit a low one, can be a source of concern for patients involved and we sincerely regret any inconvenience this can cause,” declared Dr. Denis Roy. “Our main focus today is to provide our patients with all the information, support and care they may need in order to cope with this situation. To date, two patients of the Institute, out of the 8458 patients who have undergone surgery since 2012, have been diagnosed with such an infection. They are being taken care of and their treatment is underway.”

To contact the dedicated call centre at the MHI please dial: 514 593-2505 and 1 844 593-2505.
A MHI professional is available Monday to Friday from 9 AM to 5 PM.

(SOURCE: Montreal Heart Institute Foundation)

Halloween night and the weeks of preparation leading up to it, can be very exciting for children of all ages. It’s a special celebration shared with their family, friends and community that gives them the rare chance to walk around their neighborhood at night. The trick to making Halloween a real treat is by following these “sweet” safety tips:

Before Halloween:

• Choose bright costumes and have your children carry flashlights or glow sticks so they are easily visible.
• Plan a trick-or-treating route in familiar neighborhoods with well-lit streets.  Make sure to identify all the safe places where your children can seek help in case of an emergency.
• Make sure your children know your cellphone number and address in case you get separated. For older children, consider giving them a cellphone so they can reach you easily.
• Remind them, not to text while walking or crossing the street!
• Teach your children to say NO!, in a loud voice, if someone tries to grab them or leave with them.

On Halloween Night:

• Make sure older children take friends and stay together while trick-or-treating.
• Remind your children to visit only those homes that are well lit and decorated and always wait on the porch.
• Remind your children not to approach any vehicle or accept a ride unless they have your permission to do so.
• All good things must come to an end! Make sure that older children respect the agreed upon time to return home.
• Carefully inspect all the treats and immediately discard any that are unwrapped.

(SOURCE: Missing Children’s Network)

Martin C. Barry

With autism diagnoses rising to unprecedented levels, on Sept. 25 one of the Montreal Hellenic community’s largest associations, the Laconian Brotherhood, held an information session and panel discussion on autism spectrum disorders at The Palace convention centre in Laval.

The afternoon’s keynote speaker, Dr. Lila Amirali, is the chief of psychiatry at the Montreal Children’s Hospital and a professor of psychiatry at McGill University.

To inform the community

Three other featured panellists were Hollie-Michelle D’Aoust, a family support coordinator at the See Things My Way Assessment Center, Dr. Nadia Abouzeid, director and lead psychologist at the center, and Nicholas Katalifos, chairman of the Giant Steps School for autistic children who is the parent of a child with autism.

As the Laconian Brotherhood is currently celebrating its 80^th year in Montreal, they decided to mark it by coming up with a schedule of events, including this one to better inform people in the community whose lives might be affected by autism, said Pat Kyriacou, president of the Laconian Brotherhood. Other topics that could be focused on at upcoming brotherhood events could be Alzheimer’s disease, she added.

In an interview with Newsfirst Multimedia, Dr. Amirali said the MCH currently has a major project underway called Navigator whose goal is to make sure that every family with an autistic child is assigned a special coordinator to guide them as they seek out services.

An episodic problem

“As children and then as adults, those with autism have what we call episodes in their lives when they need specific services,” she said. “They vary according to the severity of the disorders, according to intellectual abilities, according to the accessibility of private or public resources. It can be quite complex. Today we are trying to shed a little light.”

During her presentation, Dr. Amirali described autism as “something that affects the very fibre of who we are, and it starts at the beginning of life and it continues across a lifespan. But the manifestations change across the lifespan. And they change and they differ because they are subject to development, to changes that are natural with growth.”

According to Dr. Amirali, the characteristics of autism can be identified early on. But, she emphasized, they have to cause significant clinical impairment in order for someone who potentially has autism to be confirmed with that diagnosis. “This is why sometimes it is not very simple to get a diagnosis, and not very simple to give a diagnosis,” she said.

Autism more common now

Based on ne

w developments in diagnosis processes, she said it is now estimated that one to two per cent of the population may have characteristics corresponding to autism spectrum disorders. “The numbers seem to be going up, and they seem to be going up not just because we are better at diagnosis, and not just because we seem to recognize it better,” she said, adding that about one out of every 70 people have autism.

“This is a huge proportion of the population, and you can understand why this is extremely significant for us to be aware. I don’t think there is one single person who has not had or has not come in contact with another individual who has this problem, who has this difficulty or this challenge to deal with.”

Dr. Amirali also touched on the issue of complementary and new therapies for treating autism. While maintaining that she sometimes feels helpless because of the limitations of conventional medicine for treating a problem for which there are treatments but still no cure, she cautioned against concerned parents of autistic children becoming involved with non-medically approved methods for treating autism such as chelation and hyperbaric oxygen therapies.

Unapproved method dangers

“We have children that have died,” she said. “But families can get desperate and I understand this degree of desperation. I mean, they’ll do anything. Sometimes we hear about all sorts of things, like diets, but for all these things there is nothing proven yet today.” Although she was less concerned about a few alternative methods which are unproven but are known to not cause harm, she insisted that parents should always discuss with their physician or paediatrician any kind of treatment.

According to Hollie-Michelle D’Aoust and Dr. Nadia Abouzeid of the See Things My Way Assessment Center which is affiliated with the Miriam Center, there are currently five major hospitals on the island of Montreal where autism evaluations are done. Evaluations can also be referred to See Things My Way, but they don’t accept referrals coming from outside the hospital network.

Two-year wait for diagnosis

“We had a clear mandate when we first opened our doors and it is to help eliminate the wait list across the island of Montreal for the diagnosis of autism,” said D’Aoust, adding that there is currently an estimated two-year wait time for children with autism to get a diagnostic evaluation.

Katalifos spoke about the experience he and his wife had raising a child with autism. “It was kind of a shock to see that he wasn’t developing in exactly the same way as our daughter had,” he said. After obtaining an early diagnosis, they became aware of the problems that face families, such as treatment waiting lists.

While he lamented the shortage of treatment services for autism in English in Quebec, Katalifos praised the CRDI de Laval “because they really went out of their way to find someone that could speak in English” and work with their now 14-year-old son.