ambulances & health & safety firegeezer on 09 May 2008 01:09 pm
Tourist Train Quarantined In Ontario
“The whole place is being overrun with ambulances and police cars, and we’ve got helicopters,”
Updated, scroll down.
THE LITTLE TOWN OF FOLEYET, ONTARIO, is the scene of a chaotic health emergency this morning. A tourist excursion train on the VIA Railway was brought to a halt and then quarantined when a woman was found dead and nearly a dozen other passengers sick with a mysterious flu-like illness.
The train left Vancouver three days ago and was headed for Toronto when the outbreak was discovered. The town has a population of 400 and is an hour’s drive from the nearest hospital. As swarms of ambulances arrived, along with health officials, the only people allowed to board the train were required to wear full protective gear.
Carol Woodhouse / Toronto Star photo
The train is carrying 260 passengers and 30 crew members on 30 railcars. But the outbreak is believed to be confined to two of the cars.
Update, 4:30 pm:
Canadian Press is now reporting that Ontario’s top medical official says the 60-year-old woman who died on the Via Rail train did not have an infectious disease.
Nor did the person who was airlifted from the scene to hospital with flu-like symptoms. Ontario’s chief medical officer of health Dr. David Williams says it’s anticipated that the train will continue on to Toronto later today.
A police spokesman said the woman became ill on the train and subsequently died from an unknown illness. A second passenger who has been airlifted to Timmins and District Hospital, where she was diagnosed with a respiratory illness and listed in stable condition.
A doctor who was traveling on the train tried to treat the dying woman after she became ill, but when she later died he turned his attention to the other passengers who had become ill. He later said that he saw no immediate connection between the two incidents.
All the communities where the train had made stops are being scrutinized according to a national Health Dept. spokesman. Officials were still trying to determine what caused the illnesses on the train and how they are linked to the fatality. It is not yet known if the illnesses are viral, bacterial or a case of food poisoning.
Update #2, Saturday 9:30 am:
The train was cleared to resume its journey Friday night at 7 pm and arrived in Toronto 8 am Saturday morning. See Firegeezer updated story HERE.
The Toronto Globe and Mail has an early REPORT.
An updated report is HERE.
