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Ebola
Health authority continues to monitor possible Ebola cases
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - If the ongoing Ebola epidemic has a human face within the Interior Health Authority, it’s that of Patrice Gordon, a nurse practioner who returned from West Africa last December and promptly began displaying the early signs of of the disease. Gordon tested negative for the virus, but since then the health authority has...
Interior Health to consider ebola preparedness recommendations
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - If the world has learned anything from the ongoing ebola epidemic, it’s that you cannot predict where and when a person carrying the dreaded virus will show up. The Interior Health Authority learned that in December when one of its own employees, nurse practitioner Patrice Gordon, returned from Sierra Leone and began displaying flu-like...
How one woman is bringing hope and dignity to those affected by the Ebola outbreak
RAISED IN SALMON ARM, NOW FIGHTING EBOLA IN LIBERIA LIBERIA - Working in the Ebola treatment unit, Bev Kauffeldt would hold her hands together in front of her to resist the urge to console patients with a shoulder squeeze, or a hug. On occasion, if she dipped her three layers of gloves into chlorine, she...
What role do you play in the Ebola crisis?
KAMLOOPS – Those interested in learning more about the Ebola crisis and what role British Columbians play in preventing its spread have the opportunity to attend a dialogue hosted by international development practitioners this Wednesday, Jan. 28. 'Rethinking the Ebola Crisis' will take place from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Smorgasbord, 255 7...
Second round of Ebola tests negative
KELOWNA - A second set of Ebola tests being conducting on an Interior Health nurse practitioner have returned negative, but a third and final test will still need to be done before she is given the all clear. Patrice Gordon returned from helping to treat Ebola patients in Sierra Leone on Christmas Day and it...
UPDATE: Ebola tests on patient in Kelowna ‘negative’
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Interior Health has confirmed a patient is in isolation at Kelowna General Hospital while being tested for the Ebola virus. Patrice Gordon, a nurse practitioner with Interior Health, was in Sierra Leone earlier this month to help treat Ebola patients. She returned this week and soon after began showing signs consistent with the...
Battling Ebola: A nurse’s story
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - As her family and friends prepare to have a white Christmas back home, Patrice Gordon will don a "spacesuit" in extreme heat and help patients infected with Ebola in Sierra Leone. The nurse practicioner with the Interior Health Authority, who hails from Nakusp, signed up as a volunteer with the Red Cross and...
Universities taking pro-active approach to Ebola despite low transmission risk
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN – The risk of Ebola in the interior of British Columbia is a low one, but that hasn’t stopped the international departments at Thompson Rivers University and the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan campus from taking direction or developing a plan for international student travel. “The key part of what we’re doing is really...
Kamloops group fundraising for Ebola prevention
KAMLOOPS – Members of the group Developing World Connections cannot return to Sierra Leone to finish constructing a school for local children because of the threat of the Ebola epidemic. Over 3,000 cases of Ebola have been reported in Sierra Leone. One thousand have died from the virus. Now the group is fundraising to hire...
Walk to fight Ebola at Mission Creek this weekend
KELOWNA – A local non-profit is on the front lines battling a microscopic foe that threatens tens of thousands of West Africans. Hope for the Nations is a Kelowna-based charity that focuses on empowering at-risk children around the world. They are currently in 20 countries, including Liberia, the country hit hardest by the Ebola virus....
Vernon school trip to Ghana dependent on Ebola situation
NORTH OKANAGAN - An Ebola outbreak in parts of Africa has cast some doubt over a planned school trip to Ghana next spring. The North Okanagan-Shuswap school board has approved the excursion in principle, pending a December update from one of the organizers. The trip is scheduled for March 15-25, 2015. Director of Instruction Wendy...