Ontario pharmacists to give flu shots, renew prescriptions • Ontario looks to help workers with job-related post-traumatic mental stress • Manitoba paramedics to test new power lift stretchers • Exposure to common solvents at work tied to birth defects: Study
Ontario pharmacists to give flu shots, renew prescriptions
TORONTO — Ontarians can now receive more health services directly from pharmacists, including the publicly funded flu shot and getting their prescriptions renewed.
As of Oct. 22, Ontario residents over the age of five can visit participating local pharmacies where specially trained pharmacists will give them the flu shot as part of the province’s universal influenza immunization program.
In addition to giving the flu shot, pharmacists can now also performing further duties, such as renew or adapting existing prescriptions, prescribe medication to help people quit smoking, demonstrate how to use an asthma inhaler or inject insulin in support patients who have a chronic disease, such as diabetes, in monitoring their condition.
Ontario looks to help workers with job-related post-traumatic mental stress
TORONTO — Ontario is launching a roundtable to help workers who suffer from job-related post-traumatic mental stress, the provincial government announced.
This new roundtable will be led by a facilitator and bring together representatives from high-risk sectors, such as police, emergency medical services and transit services, where workers may, as a result of their job, be at risk of developing a traumatic mental stress injury — such as post-traumatic stress disorder.
The roundtable will focus on finding the best ways to promote awareness, education and training initiatives and identify and share approaches and best practices to deal with post-traumatic mental stress in the workplace.
Manitoba paramedics to test new power lift stretchers
WINNIPEG — Paramedics will test new power lift stretchers in several ambulances across Manitoba as part of the province's commitment to improving workplace safety for health professionals and reducing workplace injuries, said Health Minister Theresa Oswald.
A basic manual stretcher costs about $4,000 while a power assisted stretcher is several thousand dollars more, Oswald said, noting the pilot project will help ensure the province makes the best investment to support paramedics.
Emergency medical service providers respond to more than 165,000 calls every year for emergency medical help in Manitoba.
Exposure to common solvents at work tied to birth defects: Study
RENNES, FRANCE (Reuters) — Pregnant women with frequent exposure to solvents at work may be at higher risk of having babies with birth defects, French researchers have found.
Both self-reported exposure and urine samples supported the link between the chemicals and newborn malformations, they report in the journal Epidemiology.
Specifically, urine breakdown products pointed to bleach-containing solvents and glycol ethers — a group of solvents common in paints, cleaning products and cosmetics — as potential culprits.
Concentrated fumes from both types of chemicals are toxic to humans, and glycol ethers in particular cause birth defects and developmental problems in animals.
A study published earlier this year in the United States also found a link between occupational exposure to solvents during pregnancy and several kinds of congenital heart defects.
Still, the new research is not ironclad proof the substances are to blame, and earlier research findings have been mixed. The overall risk is not huge, with less than three per cent of the more than 3,000 pregnant women in the study giving birth to children with deformities.
Based on questionnaires filled out by the pregnant women, 45 per cent of those whose babies had major malformations reported “regular” exposure to solvents at work. These women were typically nurses, chemists, cleaners, hairdressers or beauticians.
By contrast, of the women who had babies without birth defects, only 28 per cent had been in regular contact with solvents at work.
The research was conducted at Sylvaine Cordier of the National Institute of Health and Medical Research.
