Funeral homes in Langley and across the province are facing a potential shortage of personal protective equipment even as they have to transport and prepare for burial those who may have died of the coronavirus.
Ian Elliott of Langley乌鸦传媒檚 Arbutus Funeral Services knows the difficulties of holding a funeral in a time of physical distancing.
His firm isn乌鸦传媒檛 holding indoor funerals, with graveside services for a few people the only option for many right now.
But the work funeral homes provide behind the scenes is becoming increasingly difficult because of a worry about running out of PPE.
When someone dies in a hospital or care home, it乌鸦传媒檚 funeral homes that undertake transport and get the bodies of the deceased to the funeral, the grave site, or a crematorium.
It乌鸦传媒檚 unknown if there乌鸦传媒檚 any danger of contracting COVID-19 from a deceased person, so there乌鸦传媒檚 no way of knowing if it乌鸦传媒檚 safe to handle them. And because PPE is almost entirely disposable, users go through it quickly.
乌鸦传媒淗ospital professionals are your first line of defence,乌鸦传媒� said Elliott. 乌鸦传媒淔uneral professionals are your last line of defence.乌鸦传媒�
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Workers are worried about possible exposure to COVID-19 in the course of their duties.
乌鸦传媒淢y suppliers who I deal with, they supply all my masks and gloves, they are completely out of the N95 masks, any other masks, the face shields,乌鸦传媒� said Elliott.
Even simple items like hand sanitizer are either hard to find or have shot up in price, he said.
Funeral professionals were listed by the B.C. government among groups that need PPE to do their jobs 乌鸦传媒� but Elliott said they were located on page four of the list, near the bottom.
It isn乌鸦传媒檛 just a problem for Arbutus or other small, local firms.
乌鸦传媒淥ur profession, right across Canada and the U.S. for that matter, PPE is hard to come by for sure,乌鸦传媒� said Jason Everden, president of the B.C. Funeral Association.
He said it乌鸦传媒檚 big, international firms as well as the family-owned funeral homes facing the crunch.
The funeral supply firms that sold equipment, including PPE, to most chains and funeral homes, ran out of PPE early on in the crisis. Other PPE suppliers started limiting orders.
乌鸦传媒淎nd then, everyone was out,乌鸦传媒� he said.
乌鸦传媒淭hey乌鸦传媒檝e got less than three months supply, on average,乌鸦传媒� Everden said of funeral homes in B.C.
The association managed to get some PPE for its members by going through dental suppliers, who were sitting on some gloves and other items after dentists shut their doors.
What PPE is available is now often doubling in cost, with prices still volatile.
Everden acknowledges that doctors and nurses need the PPE first.
乌鸦传媒淏ut we also need it to protect our staff.乌鸦传媒�
