funerai guesis Robert Galster ; News Reporter robert@nsnews.com A Boal Chapel memorial service resulted in grave consequences for close to half of the mourners present at the facility on Saturday. Something in the chapel’s environment caused 17 of 35 guests attending a 10 a.m. ser- vice to seck medical atrention shortly after its conclusion about an hour later. Ken Reid was at the chapel before the service began help- ing to prepare for the guests coming to pay their respects to his deceased mother. Fire department and chapel officials suggest the cause of the guests’ discomfort was propane. But Reid suspects it was something else ~- possibly carbon monoxide. “To me it didn’t even smell like propane. Ir just smelled rank,” said Reid. Initially firemen suspected a faulty propane heater contin- ued to spew propane into the facility after its flame was extin- guished shortly before the ser- vice was to begin. But Reid said he took the heating unit out- side before service started. “Everybody's fine and that’s ' the main thing,” said Guy Reid, the general manayer of the North Vancouver facility. “Everything’s still premature.” Guy Reid, who is no rcla- tion to Ken, said several people attending the service started to feel ill as they were leaving the chapel. “Our staff became con- cerned and cailed 9-1-1 right ‘away,” he said. Guy Reid said the chapel relics on natural gas to heat the facility, but a leak led employ- ees to shut off gas in the arca. A portable propane heater was brought ‘in. on a temporary basis. “We'd used the radiant heater the previous weck and nothing happened so it’s an isolated incident,” said Guy Reid. Nevertheless Brian Stegavig, North Vancouver District fire department’s chief fire preven- tion officer, said an investiga- tion of the incident is ongoing. “It’s (propane) a pretty strong udor when it’s released. T don’t know why no one noticed it before people got sick,” said Stegavig. “It’s a tire hazard, but [ll have co check the code.” Stegavig said the effects of inhaling = propane — include headaches, fatigue, a and over prolonged periods could result in vomiting, convulsions and even loss of consciousaess. Said Ken Reid: “IH they . write down it was the contents of the tank chat caused the problem, they’re dead wrong.” Stegavig. said the air in the chapel should have been tested, but emergency personnel at the scene did not suspect anything other than propane. Stegavig said he'll alert the North Shore Health Department. Passengers left high and dry as crew walk off job Robert Galster News Reporter robert@nsnews.com AN asbestos scare aboard one of the ferries plying the Horseshoe Bay io Nanaimo route led > the cancellation of two sailings last Sunday afternoon. B.C. Ferries spokesman. Clay Suddaby said a leak of asbestos fibres was reported aboard the ves-; sel last Friday and was subsequently fixed. It was located in a staff- only section of the vessel. But after one sailing the ship’ s crew became concerned the repair job may not have been adequately performed and walked off the job. “It was entirely removed bur there were traces Worthy walk RAIN didn't dampen the spirits of these waikers on Sunday during the Multiple Sclerosis fundraiser at Ambleside Park. Participants in 12 B.C. communities raised approximately $400,000, beating last year’s $304,000 total. The cash goes to research and services. understandable.” of some (other) materials in the area,” Suddaby. “Perhaps it (employees? concern) is NEWS pheta City Goodman JASON Gagne and Brian Meliway were delayed by more than four hours last Sunday as investigators checked a ferry for asbestos. NEWS photo Cindy Goodman Suddaby said both Workers Compensation Board officials and members of a specialized. cleaning company were dispatched to the vessel last Sunday and concluded that no traces of the cancer-causing materials remained on board. “On any of the vessels there are regular checks made. to ensure that there’s .no problems with the asbestos,” said Suddaby. B.C. Ferries’ weekend sailing schedule. was thrown into disarray during the employees” protest and resulted in the cancellation of two scheduled sailings. | The lengthy delay stranded many secking passage : to Vancouver Island, including Jason Gagne and Brian Mellway of Nanaimo and Courtney respectively. Both had come to Vancouver for the weekend to watch a Varcouver Canucks game and were less than pleased about the delay. : The vast majority of the vessels ~'in B.C. Ferries’ fleet were built using asbestos, bur the Crown corporation has spent $40 million cither removing or sealing the, substance. Hospital head says infection controlled From page 1 care unit used primarily, by elderly and chronically ill people. “I would say it is well con- trolled,” Madill said of the patient's super bug infection. The super bug is methicillin- resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). When it becomes virulent, MRSA is known to respond to only one antibiotic ycin). MRSA has been a problem in hospitals in Europe and North America for a number of years. Recently, three people died in a Saint John, New Brunswick, hospital from antibiotic resistant bacterial infections. The dead patients were diagnosed as having MRSA. Madill said the MRSA patient ar LGH i ed closely. He said that the MRSA continues to be in the patient’s body although the patient docs not have an infec- tion. People with the MRSA bacteria who do not have an infection are not treated with an antibiotic. Madill said precautions are taken to prevent the super bug from ading in the hospital. LGH microbiology lab head Dr. Jan Scholey said that occasionally the super bug patient requires more intense treatment and is transferred to the hospital’s acute care wing. “I’s not usually to do with her MRSA, but usually to do with her other underlying medical condi- tions,” said Schoicy. “On occasions she has had a (MRSA) infection. The vast majority of time she is colonized (has the by: teria with no infection),” said Scholey. Scholey said she didn’t know where the patient first got the “MRSA bacteria. She said the MRSA bactsria is transferred from skin-to-skin contact or by contact from skin to an inani- mate object to another person’s skin. Hand washing will prevent the bac- teria’s spread. Scholey said chat MRSA is nor easy to get and other LGH patients should not be concerned with catch- ing MRSA when the super bug patient does not have an MRSA infection, She said that handouts and infor- mation relating to MRSA are avail- able for patients and their relatives. But West Vancouver resident Ken Robulak said his family members were not given any information when they asked twice abour the super bug at Evergreen near the end of February. At the time, the super bug patient was in an isolation room ina south wing of the second floor of Evergreen House. “Patients and relatives should be informed when someone like that (with MRSA) is that close,” said Robulak. - Robulak said family members asked LGH staff why there was an ischation room in the middle extended care wing full of elderly, sick people. “We didn’t get a clear answer from the staff at Evergreen,” said Robulak. Robulak, pointed out that his family members with the flu do‘not visit their loved one in Evergreen because they don’t want to risk giv- ing any sie ient an infection. Madill said that since last y new LGH patients are being a they have been in a hospital in the months, e¢speciaily an ris yes, tests are con- ducted to sereen for the MRSA bug. “We have picked up the oceasion- al positive casc, but it is pretty unusual,” said Madill.