MAKING SOLAR MAINSTREAM
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BACK TO SCHOOL LABOUR DISPUTES
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FRASER HEALTH page CUTS CLINIC HOURS
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Immigrant students received some valuable orientation before the first bell rang. Page A4
WEDNESDAY
SEPTEMBER 4 2013 www.burnabynewsleader.com
District seeks cuts to cover wage hikes Wanda Chow
wchow@burnabynewsleader.com
MARIO BARTEL/NEWSLEADER
Linette Ho nearly died last year when she contracted pneumonia as she crammed for her final exams at Moscrop secondary in Burnaby. But with the help of a special mobile heartlung machine developed by the cardiac team at Royal Columbian Hospital, she was able to get to specialized care.
Stretcher delivers life to critical patients Royal Columbian looking to fund improvement of doctors’ prototype gurney Mario Bartel
photo@newwestnewsleader.com
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Linette Ho begins her second year of studying commerce at the University of British Columbia this week. Just over a year ago she was fighting for her life. Her lungs were sick with pneumonia. Her heart stopped twice. But a specialized piece of equipment developed and jury-
rigged by a team from the cardiac unit at Royal Columbian Hospital was able to keep the critically ill Ho alive as she was transported to RCH for intensive care. Now the mobile Extracorpreal Life Support system is going into production and the RCH Foundation is looking to raise the $41,000 needed to add the modified portable heart-lung machine to the hospital’s life-saving arsenal. Ho, 19, was cramming for her last round of exams at Moscrop secondary school when she
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collapsed from exhaustion. She was taken to Burnaby Hospital where her lungs collapsed. As her condition worsened, doctors there decided she needed to be transferred to RCH for special cardiac care. But she was so sick, she was unlikely to survive the trip. That dilemma had vexed the cardiac team at RCH for years. As the primary cardiac care hospital in the Fraser Health region, they have all the tools and expertise on hand to treat gravely ill heart patients. But first they have to reach the hospital
still alive. A team led by chief perfusionist Dustin Spratt, a former paramedic, and cardiac surgeon Dr. Derek Gunning adapted the components of a portable heart-lung machine to attach them to a gurney that could be wheeled into and out of a standard ambulance. If the patients couldn’t get to them, they’d just go get the patient. “We felt we had to be able to respond whenever calls come in,” said Spratt. Please see GURNEY, A9
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Burnaby school district doesn’t know how much it needs but staff are already looking at potential budget cuts to cover possible wage hikes for its Canadian Union of Public Employees workers. School board chair Baljinder Narang confirmed the board met on Thursday and directed staff to start figuring out where that money could come from. Last week, Education Minister Peter Fassbender reiterated that school boards will have to find the money for any CUPE wage increases in existing budgets, but that any teacher raises negotiated will be funded by the province. CUPE, which represents teacher aides, custodians, clerical staff and other support workers, is seeking raises of two per cent per year after not having a raise in four years. Their latest contract expired in June 2012. Please see BOARD, A15
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