SoUTH Zone NEWS Zone Your HealtH Care in Your CommunitY 2014 JUNE WE hElpEd pEoplE Work throUgh thE issUEs aNd ENsUrEd “ thEy kNEW WhErE thEy stood – Todd Baxter, Alberta Health Services Environmental Public Health Inspector, of the period following the floods of June 3013 pUttiNg solUtioNs oN thE map Environmental public health (Eph) inspectors pamela hodgkinson and todd Baxter review a map of last year’s flooded areas in medicine hat. Eph teams were pivotal in getting the homes and businesses of flood victims remediated. But they did more than that, as they helped people get their lives back in order. as hodgkinson says, those affected “were overwhelmed by the volume and speed of the flood. part of our role was to support and educate them so they could make good decisions Photo by Lisa Squires | about their health.” PAGE 3 hiGh wAtErs still tAkE innovAtions EmotionAl toll chAnGinG livEs Even though the floods receded a year ago, the 10improving heart disease outcomes, mapping the psychological damages remain. mental health experts human genome, creating better drugs – alberta is a played a key role then, and are working now to help calm hotbed of medical breakthroughs. We take a look at the anxieties and fears of southern alberta 10 innovations that are making a residents, some of whom lost everything. PAGE 5 difference in lives worldwide. PAGE 6 meet alberta hEalth sErvicEs’ new lEadEr ickie kaminski became alberta health services’ concerns, let us know. tell us and we’re going to do them they need to spend it in the (ahs) new president and cEo on may 26. our best to meet your needs and expectations.’ areas important to us. health care vshe brings to the table more than 35 years of Q: what type of changes are you envisioning? has always been, and will always experience in the canadian health care system, first A: i’ll be looking at how we maintain quality of care be, one of the most important as a front-line nurse, a nurse manager and executive and maintain appropriate wait times. how do we areas to canadians. as long as KAMINSKI and, for the last 15 years, as the president and chief make sure we’re serving the right person, at the right we’re funded by tax dollars, you as executive officer of various organizations. time, doing the right thing? What kinds of structures a taxpayer will have your say through the politician. Q: what’s first, now that you’re cEo of Ahs? do staff need to help them move through that? When we see an increase in the politicization of A: my first job is learning the landscape. i need to Q: many would say there have been incidences decisions, it’s because there is a loss of confidence. connect with the front line. When i think about what of political interference in the past when it my job is to bring confidence to the position and to the a cEo should be doing, my primary job should be to comes to your position. how do you plan to organization, and to earn the confidence ofa lbertans. eliminate any barriers front-line staff may have or feel. handle the politics of Alberta? if we have that kind of a relationship with the people i also need to have a relationship with the community A: politics and health care go together. We elect of alberta and with the staff of AHS and with the at large; to say to albertans: ‘if you have issues or our political leaders, give them tax dollars and tell physicians, i think we’ll be on the right path. n PAGE 2 l o C a l l e a d e r s hElpiNg othErs sUccEEd In times of crisis and in times of calm, Brian Dalshaug holds a key position as manager of Environmental Public Health for South DR. vanessa maclean sean chilton Zone. But he credits his accomplishments to teamwork south Zone executive leadership team Story and photo by James Frey | GAmE PlAn or Brian dalshaug, teamwork is an it’s that attitude that has helped he and wife important part of his life at work and virginia (ginny) goulet raise and show german for EmErGEnciEs Fhome. shepherds. at one time, the couple had six as the manager of Environmental public shepherds, including a canadian champion. he southern alberta floods of 2013 might health (Eph) for south Zone, Brian dalshaug Now, they have given up the dog-show circuit have been the most visible emergency leads a team of 25 health inspectors; but he and share their acreage just west of lethbridge, situation faced by south Zone, but we t sees them all as colleagues – part of a team. with their kids, luke and roxie. ginny is also a have also dealt with disease outbreaks, phone “i see myself in the background, providing member of the oldman river health advisory and power outages, grassfires, and storms. a structure of support so they can be council. as health care providers, it’s our responsibility successful,” he says. of his career, dalshaug says teamwork was to reduce the impact those situations might during the city of lethbridge’s boil-water the foundation. have on our facilities, and to maintain delivery of order in april, he represented ahs south Zone “i had good people around me, i learned from health services to our patients and communities. at the city of lethbridge Emergency operations other managers and medical officers of health. south Zone has been able to “fight these centre (Eoc) and was right in the thick of it. i had tremendous opportunities to grow and fires” thanks to a process that actually grew out “in my role as liaison officer, i was relaying learn as a leader and manager of Environmental of the firefighting services in the late 1960s. information between the city’s Emergency public health,” dalshaug says. the incident command structure (ics) is a operations centre and the south Zone Eoc. “they taught me how to be part of a team standard management practice used to co- that consistent information flow is critical and how to help others succeed.” n ordinate emergency responses. ics is used during emergency situations.” across North america and Europe to help during fires, floods, storms or other manage natural and man-made disasters. it emergency events, Environmental public health was even used in New york on sept. 11, 2001. staff liaise directly with the municipalities. at during emergencies, miscommunication the first indication of an emergency event, can lead to gaps or duplication of work as public health inspectors are able to notify zone organizations try to respond. With ics, people leadership, so ahs can start making plans and are assigned to specific tasks and report preparations – not just for health care facilities, directly to an “incident commander” until the but for communities as well. issue is concluded. Everyone works from the according to dalshaug, relationships the same game plan by assigning people with Eph inspectors have formed within these specific roles to support and lead operations, communities are invaluable. planning, logistics, liaison, finance, safety and “my colleagues on the south Zone team live public information. in these communities and work directly with the When events impact several communities municipalities, in providing information and Eph and involve many of our facilities – such as the expertise relating to emergency response.” 2013 floods – we establish a Zone Emergency throughout dalshaug’s career, he has always operations centre (ZEoc). the ZEoc usually been involved in health services. headquarters in a room at one of our ahs after graduating from ryerson polytechnical facilities, but could also be established virtually institute, he began working as a health where members connect via phone, telehealth inspector in yorkton, ont., later moving on to videoconference or computer. grande prairie, Winnipeg and red deer. our ZEoc often mirrors and supports the in 1992, dalshaug settled in the lethbridge municipal and provincial governments’ own area and took a management position emergency response efforts. We liaise with with Barons-Eureka-Warner health Unit in those Eocs for a co-ordinated response. coaldale. in 1995, he became the director of We want to thank all the south Zone staff and Environmental public health with the former others who regularly go “above and beyond” chinook health region, which then expanded in supporting our response to emergency to manager of Eph south Zone for alberta situations. your commitment is truly appreciated. health services. For more information on how you can “throughout that time i continued to take Brian Dalshaug, South Zone’s manager of prepare for an emergency situation, see www. courses to improve my skillset,” he relates. Environmental Public Health, says lifelong albertahealthservices.ca/2240.asp. n “lifelong learning is important.” learning is pivotal to expanding his skillset. Some mosquitoes carry the West Nile virus, so it’s best to avoid being bitten at all. Mosquitoescan t ’ • Use an insect repellent with DEET. bite • Wear light-coloured long-sleeved you shirts and pants, and a hat. • Consider staying indoors at dawn and dusk if they cant when mosquitoes are most active. ’ For more information and tips, visit ghtthebite.info find you. or call Health Link Alberta at 1-866-408-5465. www.albertahealthservices.ca There are plenty of health care options available. Learn yours by visiting the AHS website. i n Y o u r z o n e PAGE 3 AHS Environmental Public Health inspectors helped desperate home and business owners avoid rough sailing to get back on track smoothinG wAtErs followinG thE floods Story and photo by Lisa Squires | hen massive flooding hit southern alberta a year ago, teamwork Wwas the name of the game as alberta health services (ahs) staff, physicians, nurses and Emergency medical services workers and volunteers joined A year after the floods, Alberta Health Services Environmental Public Health Inspector Todd Baxter civic, military and government agencies to reconnects with Montessori daycare owner Dana Cook, centre, and director Christine Weimer.