NEWS photos Julie Iverzon

GARY Moser, CEO of the Heaith Employer's Association of B.C. spoke ata forum
Wednesday on the nursing crisis. The session was held at Lions Gate Hospitat.

WV cops nab Calgarians

POLICE lassoed two Calgarians
who stampeded through a West
Varicouver CounterAttack road

. block Oct. 16..

i driving’ a stolen 1991. Dodge
.. Spirit; were in the westbound lanes of the 1200-
~“ block Marine Drive around 8:55 p.m.
.. An officer, suspicious of both driver and pas-
; senger, spotted an ignition from a vehicle on the
:- back seat. The driver sped off with the officer
.clinging-to the vehicle for several metres, said
Sgt. Jim Almas. The unidentified officer used a
. aanehe to smash a window i ina bid tu stop the
ver: :
“Another officer chased the vehicle in_his
cruiser to Duchess Avenue and 16th Street. The
suspects’ vehicle was stopped, but the men fled
. on foot. One suspect was tackled by the officer.
* “However, when he stood up, che suspect,

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being six-foot-six and outsizing the officer, chal-
lenged the officer to a fight at which point the
officer resorted to his OC (pepper) spray to take
suspect into custody,” Almas said.

At 10:25 p.m. citizens reported the other
suspect’s location to police: The male, who was
driving the vehicle at the road block, was taken
into custody on the Stanley Park causeway.

Almas said the vehicle was stolen trom
Calgary and bore licence plates that belong to a
Kamloops driver.

Two males, aged 25 and 21, were released
ON promise to appear in provincial court Nov, 3
on charges of allegedly possessing stolen proper-
ty over $5,000 (the vehicle), possession arstalen
property under $8. ,000 (the licence plates) and
possessing house breaking i instruments.

One of the men had escaped lawful custody

in Calgary, Almas said.
= — Bob Mackin

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Numbers of nursing
graduates dectini

From pagel

ing nurses from local schools, only 12 positions
have been filled.

“We need to lobby the government to
increase the number of scats available (in nursing
programs). For th Cie in many years | there
are waiting lists
Alberta,” said. Eil
the Registered Nurses Association af B.C.
Gowdy 1 1990 the University of Victona
enrolled 150 nursing students compared with 88

She added thar B callected 350
for only 48 seats
Nurses Uni
Ferguson said ifthe pre cants to attract and
retain nurses workload problems have to be
solved.

“Nurses cannot go on coping with crashing
workloads indefinitely,” she said. “It is becoming
increasingly difficult to get nurses tv» volunteer
for the preceptorship (practical training to stu-
dents) role, Money could be put into that pre-
ceptorship program so that nurses’ workloads
could be reduced while they're performing a
valuable role.

“In fact, acting as preceptors to students and
mentors to new griduates could become an ideal
position for senior aurses who are finding it dif-

LGH acute care RAN Moira Biggin.
Pound makes her point on nursing.

ficult to keep up with the physical demands of
the job.”

The forecast for the Canadian nursing com-
munity is bleak in terms of numbers of graduates
who will enter the workforce in 2000. The
Canadian Institute for Health Information pre-
dicts that only 5,200 nurses will graduate next
spring. That’s down almost 2,600.from 1997
and almost 5,000 from the 1976s.

Lions Gate Hospital recently closed 39 beds
because of'a nursing shortage. .

Autopsy finds NV man died from fall |

THE autopsy results of a man whose
body was found Oct. 10 on Grouse
Mountain indicate that he died from
a fall.

The body of Angelo Porchetta, 41, of
North Vancouver, was found under cable lines
belonging to the ski hill’s trara.

Police believe Porchetta climbed up a tram
tower and shimmied along a cable abour 100
metres (330 ft.) before filling to his death.
Porchetta had a sock on one hand covered with

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grease from the cable.

Police described Porchetta as a risktaker and
troubled.

He was missing for several days before his
body was found about 100 metres north of
Grouse Mountain's upper parking lot. :

The autopsy results indicate Porchetta died
from “blunt force trauma consistent with a fall
from great heights.” Toxicology results from
the autopsy were not completed to press time.

—Anna Maric D'Angelo

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