REGINE –
Saskatchewan continues to receive military aid as the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) plans to deploy more medical personnel to Regina later this week to help relieve hospital pressure in acute and critical care units.
According to CAF spokesperson Bonnie Wilken, four general duty nurses and four medical technicians will be integrated into the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) staff at Regina General Hospital (RGH).
Nurses are expected to arrive in the province on Friday. However, it is not known when the medics will be deployed.
“They will replace the SHA nurses assigned to the ramp-up of intensive care units and they will relieve the pressure on acute care in the province,” Wilken said in an email.
This is in addition to the six critical care nurses and a head nurse who started working at RGH on Thursday.
CAF personnel assigned to medical support will only be allowed to work in medical facilities after completing mandatory training, according to Wilken.
CAF expects to support the province until November 19, but is ready to extend its aid if necessary.
As of Thursday morning, 100 patients were being treated in intensive care units across Saskatchewan, according to the SHA. Fifty-eight of those patients tested positive for COVID.
The SHA says intensive care units are operating at 127% of their normal capacity, or 79 beds.
A total of 19 intensive care patients positive for COVID have been transferred to hospitals in Ontario.
Four more patient transfers are expected by the end of Thursday, with five more scheduled over the weekend.
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