Flooding at Neskantaga First Nation Nursing Station - (Supplied Via Matawa First Nations Management)
Neskantaga First Nation has issued a state of emergency after their nursing station flooded.
The declaration was made to the Provincial Emergency Operations Centre and Indigenous Services Canada on April 13, when the flooding was discovered.
According to a release from the community, water was seeping from the walls, and a strong smell of fuel was present in the station.
Without the station, the community is left with minimal access to health care as a fly-in community.
A temporary station has been set up in a small room in the community for assessments.
“If a patient was in distress and needed some resuscitation. You can’t even do those things,” explained Community Advisor Wayne Moonias. “It’s just a small room, an 8 by 10 room where the nurse is able to assess some people. But there is no like things that you would need to do after that. So basically, that’s why the chief and the community are asking for a mobile healthcare centre during this state of emergency.”
Flooding at the station is not uncommon during the winter thaw, but according to the community Health Director, Sharon Sakanee, this is the worst the flooding has been.
Without the station, services like x-ray capabilities, oxygen tanks, and other equipment for emergencies are unavailable.
“We don’t have access to the healthcare that our people should be getting,” added Moonias. “Would you want to work in a building where there’s fumes from fuel spill? That’s what our situation is like.”
“We have a lot of people like chronic patients, chronic individuals, infants, people that require those daily daily care, daily medical access care, and we don’t have that right now. The community basically is at risk right now very vulnerable situation right now in the community, and it’s very scary to think that if somebody is in distress and requires, for example, resuscitation, that may not be available to anyone in the community.”
The PDA Program and Home Care Program are also offering limited services.
The community plans on releasing more information in the coming weeks as it becomes available.
