An air conditioning system shut down at St. Paul’s Hospital caused heat exhaustion for some staff over the weekend, according to Service Employees International Union West (SEIU-West), which represents a number of healthcare workers.
SEIU-West president Barb Cape told CTV News members reported the hospital was “incredibly hot.”
“What we’re hearing is, there were symptoms of heat stress, folks were just really sweating a lot, temperatures were up,” she said.
“It did affect the taking of temperatures, as I understand it, for the patients and clients that were being taken care of.”
Cape said she spoke to the maintenance manager because it was an occupational health and safety issue.
“We’re incredibly concerned about that, especially as we’re coming into this week where it’s going to be quite hot,” she said.
Cape said staff were given popsicles and ice cream in an effort to keep cool.
In a statement to CTV …