Rescue in the Tundra

In Nunavut, the Kiggavik project helicopter recently carried different passengers than its usual load of geologists and drillers. In July four Baker Lake, Nunavut residents found out just how useful a helicopter can be in remote areas. Hugh Ikoe, his wife Martha and their 16 year old son Bryan and his friends Zachary Niego (15) and Moses Haqpi (12) were hunting at their cabin at Sugarload Mountain across the lake from their community. Once Hugh had shot some caribou, he decided to bring the meat back to Baker Lake to freeze. Hugh crossed the lake by boat, but the wind changed direction and the shore packed with ice preventing him from launching his boat to return to the cabin to pick-up his family and friends on the other side. He tried to cross again during the next two days with no success. Meanwhile Martha and the three youths were watching a grizzly bear near their cabin eating the caribou parts. Martha had a high frequency radio and made a broadcast asking for help. Meanwhile, Hugh was also making some calls, one of them was to William Noah, community liaison officer at AREVA's Baker Lake office. William quickly sent a message to AREVA's team at the Kiggavik site, 80 km from Baker Lake. The team responded immediately by sending the helicopter to Baker Lake to pick-up Hugh and head for the cabin. Within a couple hours the helicopter had picked up Martha, the teenagers and the dog, and was heading back to Baker Lake. "We don't know what the outcome might have been without the Kiggavik team's quick response," said Barry McCallum, manager Nunavut Affairs. "We are just happy that we had the means to help this family, that's what being part of the community is all about." Two weeks earlier, another group of seven people had been rescued by the Kiggavik project helicopter after being stranded on an island off Baker Lake due to wind and ice shifting.

AREVA Supports Telehealth

Kidney disease is on the increase in Saskatchewan. Over the past 10 years, St. Paul's Hospital in Saskatoon has seen the number of patients with kidney disease grow by 151 percent. This is a particular concern in Northern Saskatchewan due to the high incidence of diabetes among Aboriginal people and the proven link between diabetes and kidney disease. St. Paul's Hospital is home of the Centre of Excellence for Nephrology (the branch of medicine dealing with kidney function and diseases), and provides a variety of services to patients.

This has prompted a major donation of $750,000 from AREVA to the Renal Telehealth Program at St. Paul's Hospital. The AREVA Foundation with its offices in Paris, France is pleased to contribute $450,000 and locally AREVA Resources Canada topped it up with $300,000.

The AREVA Foundation supports humanitarian initiatives carried out by local organizations in the fields of development, health and childhood services. "The Renal Telehealth and Community Outreach program was a perfect fit with AREVA Foundation's mission," notes Nathalie Neyret, Manager of AREVA's Patronage and Partnership department in Paris, France. "We are pleased to see the AREVA Foundation Renal Telehealth Program extend access to specialists and services across the Saskatchewan province." In the winter months when travel in northern Saskatchewan can be difficult, physicians from St. Paul's Hospital's Centre of Excellence for Nephrology offer Telehealth clinic visits for renal patients. These clinics put technology to work transferring data for physician clinic visits from a distance. In turn, patients have access, through Telehealth, to a variety of medical services without having to travel long distances. The Aboriginal Health Educator and Chronic Renal Insufficiency nurse clinician work with various communities in Saskatchewan's North to deliver the Community Outreach Program and allow patients to remain in their home communities to receive treatment, prevention education and healing services.

The Renal Telehealth clinic visits are delivered to satellite hemodialysis clinics in Prince Albert, Tisdale, North Battleford and Lloydminister serving patients from those locations and north. The Renal Telehealth Program enables St. Paul's Chronic Kidney Disease team to work with family physicians from northern communities to help patients better manage their kidney disease without having to travel south.

The AREVA Foundation Telehealth and Community Outreach Programs provide the following advantages:

• reduced turnaround times for screening, diagnosis and tracking outcomes;
• improved dialysis care delivery and treatment advice;
• enhanced access to health services in rural, northern and remote communities;
• assistance for physicians and health care workers and improved health professional communication about patient care and ongoing management;
• provision of health information for patients; and
• continuing education for health care workers.

"The AREVA contribution to the Renal Telehealth Program is of enormous benefit to patients, families and the entire healthcare team," says Dr. Joanne Kappel, Head, Division of Nephrology for the Saskatoon Health Region.

She has received many comments from patients and families illustrating the program's impact, such as: "I appreciate not having to travel, especially in the winter." "I liked having my son with me in the room so he could talk to the doctor too." "After the initial introductions, you almost forgot the doctor was not in the same room."

According to Dr. Kappel, doctors and nurses credit the program with improving problem-solving through better communication. They say it lessens patient anxiety about travel and travel costs. They also appreciate having face-to-face contact with the nephrologist, and find they are able to diagnose problems expeditiously and intervene more promptly.

The program is called the AREVA Foundation Renal Telehealth Program in honour of the company's donation. Not only is AREVA supporting access to renal clinics in remote communities, it is improving access to education about chronic kidney disease for health professionals in Northern communities.

AREVA Provides Jaws of Life

"When we received the request, we felt it was the right thing to do," says Morris Onyskevitch, manager of Northern Affairs at AREVA Resources. "Traffic in the La Loche area has increased in recent years, especially with all the exploration drilling going on. The nearest Jaws of Life was two hours away, and if someone is pinned in a vehicle, that's not good."

For fire chief Ken Roth, the AREVA donation was welcome news. "I've been the fire chief here for 28 years and for 26 of them I've been trying to raise money for this rescue equipment. I wrote letter after letter. Several companies helped out, but most never replied. I only wrote one letter to AREVA and they responded right away."

The equipment cost approximately $50,000, most raised through community bingos, raffles and other events. "After fundraising this long, I went for the best – the Hurst Jaws of Life – because it's going to have to last a long time," Roth says. The equipment, powered by a hydraulic pump, includes a cutter-spreader, ram and accessories that can cut through steel and pry it apart with a force of several thousand pounds to help remove victims trapped in vehicles.

The donation was one of several good news stories for the La Loche Volunteer Fire Department this year. In April, the town finally got 911 emergency services. Then there was the donation, for a nominal fee of $1, of an old ambulance. The ambulance is being refurbished as a rescue vehicle, complete with the Jaws of Life. Right now, volunteer fire fighters respond to road rescues in a half-ton truck.

"In my 28 years, I've been on all sorts of calls," Roth says. "In that time, I've seen about four vehicle rollovers where we had to pry the victims out. That takes a long time. One person died from their injuries; that's when I really started pushing to get this necessary specialized piece of equipment."

Although he is eligible to retire in 2010, Ken is determined to stick around as fire chief until he's seen his third and final goal completed: a new fire truck to serve the growing community and surrounding area. For now, he is still savouring the success of finally bringing the Jaws of Life to La Loche. "If it wasn't for AREVA, we wouldn't have this equipment. I don't know how to express my feelings, I'm still amazed," Roth says.