National Emergency Stockpile System

The National Emergency Stockpile System (NESS) is a federal Government of Canada response to the needs of the health care system in case of an emergency. It is a responsibility of the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC).[1]

Synopsis

The NESS is:[1]

a federally owned stockpile of... medical supplies and equipment managed by the Public Health Agency of Canada. Medical supplies and equipment range from beds and blankets to advanced pediatric ventilators... The National Emergency Stockpile System inventory is stored in 10 federal warehouses and approximately 1,300 additional pre-positioned supply centres across Canada. These pre-positioned sites, which operate under the combined management of the provincial/territorial and federal governments, are intended to respond within 24 hours to a provincial/territorial request... [D]uring the H1N1 pandemic [t]he provinces and territories accessed the System for the following items:

• 135 adult ventilators

• 198,800 masks

The NESS anticipates a pandemic and therefore procures health supplies, such as sanitizers/disinfectants, ventilators and N95 masks. The Federal Budget 2006 allocated $600 million for general pandemic planning and preparedness activities, such as the NESS.[1]

As of May 2020, the NESS was the responsibility of the Vice-President, Health Security Infrastructure Branch at the PHAC. The NESS had fallen on hard times, with a staff of 18 people in normal times, and a budget in 2019 of $3 million. The stockpile was reduced in 2012 from 11 warehouses in nine cities to eight warehouses across six cities.[2]

History

The NESS was established in 1952 when the Cold War was just begun.[2]

Sally Thornton, who was at the time Vice-President, Health Security Infrastructure Branch at the PHAC was quoted in May 2020 to say: "The role has changed to focus more on chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats. We began to move away from beds and blankets and increased our holdings of antiviral medications and key treatments." She disclosed that the NESS was not "focused on personal protective equipment and had little of the necessary gear to respond to COVID-19."[2]

gollark: That would ruin my brand.
gollark: What do you want me to do, alter the colors?
gollark: It is CLEARLY hyperbolic geometry, yes.
gollark: This is NOT true. I have not in any way been sponsored by pizza companies. There have been no advertising agreements whatsoever with any companies producing pizza or otherwise to have me subliminally advertise pizza, as my profile picture is not a pizza. Since it is not a pizza, this is obviously not pizza advertisement whatsoever. No monetary exchanges or otherwise have occurred with companies engaged in pizza production for any reason relating to my profile picture. You are clearly engaged in libel and attempting to discredit my non-pizza-advertising status. It is IN NO WAY subliminal pizza advertising because I DO NOT work for pizza companies in any form. It's not pizza. There were no deals, under-the-table or otherwise, with pizza companies. No pizza companies pay for any kind of subliminal advertising involving me. People make that mistake, but I am not working for pizza companies doing subliminal advertising; that is not in any way what I am doing. I am NOT being sponsored by ANY pizza companies to display subliminal pizza advertising OF ANY KIND.
gollark: It is NOT a pizza.

See also

References
  1. "LESSONS LEARNED REVIEW: PUBLIC HEALTH AGENCY OF CANADA AND HEALTH CANADA RESPONSE TO THE 2009 H1N1 PANDEMIC" (PDF). Public Health Agency of Canada. November 2010.
  2. Tumilty, Ryan (15 May 2020). "Government officials say national stockpile not designed for pandemic: 'We do not focus on PPE'". National Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.