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Do you have a student in your life who’s interested in science, health or writing – or all three?  BC Lung Foundation and Interior Health (IH) have partnered together to launch our first-ever Radon Skill Testing Contest for students in grades 4–8 and 9–12.   This skill testing contest aims to increase awareness of the health risks associated with radon. Students can answer one, or up to four, skill testing questions about radon for a chance to win Beats on-ear headphones, Beats wireless ear buds, or an Alpha Track radon test kit.  Radon is more prevalent in the Interior region than in the rest of B.C. It’s a radioactive gas that accumulates in indoor spaces, and long-term exposure can cause lung cancer. The only way to know how much radon you could have in your home, work or leisure indoor space is to test.  “Not only do we want students to take an interest in this important topic, we want parents and guardians, teachers and school staff to take note too,” says Dr. Silvina Mema, Deputy Chief Medical Health Officer at IH. “We want people to test for radon in their own homes.”

Name: Brandy Hagel (she/her/hers)Job Title: Registered NurseYears of Service: 5 ½ Worksite: Kelowna General Hospital Pediatrics Community:  KelownaAncestral Territory: SyilxFavourite Quote / Advice to live by: “If you put your mind to it, anything is possible.” Brandy Hagel, the registered nurse (RN) from Kelowna General Hospital who took to social media to reunite a pediatric patient with their stuffed bunny, has always loved working with kids. She has also always been the type of person who goes out of her way to make a positive difference in someone’s day.  So much so that in 2017 she combined her passion for running and desire to help others by taking on the challenge of running an ultra-marathon across Haiti to raise money for low-income families. She ran a total of 226 kilometres in just six days!  Naturally, her empathetic, caring nature and desire to work with children ultimately led her to a career as a RN in pediatrics.  “It is so rewarding to know that you are making a positive impact in someone’s day, and kids are the most resilient people I know. I love being able to help them understand that their illness doesn’t define them while we work together to get them healthy again.”  

You can’t see it, taste it or smell it, but radon gas is found everywhere in Canada. Caused by the natural breakdown of uranium in soil and rocks, radon dissipates outdoors but builds up indoors – in homes, workplaces, schools and leisure spaces. Radon gas is radioactive, and is the second-leading cause of lung cancer after smoking. It’s also the most significant indoor air carcinogen for residents of homes in Canada. According to the BC Centre for Disease Control's radon map, an estimated 30 per cent of homes within the Interior Health region are above the Canadian guideline of 200 Becquerels/m3. How do you know how much radon you have in your home? There’s only one way to find out: you have to test for it.  November is Radon Action Month in Canada. We want to introduce you to four people who are working hard to increase awareness of the risks of radon, and to promote testing, management and mitigation. This week meet Nancy Mora Castro, regional air quality coordinator for the City of Kelowna. Since 2020, she has led radon action at the local government level, expanding radon awareness and testing across the Central Okanagan. This month we also featured Greg Baytalan, specialist environmental health officer, and air quality and radon expert. We also introduced you to radon champions and medical health officers Drs. Silvina Mema and Fatemeh Sabet.

Name: Nicole Fournier (she/her/hers)Job Title: Health care assistantYears of Service: 11Worksite: Three Links ManorCommunity: KelownaAncestral Territory: SyilxFavourite Quote / Advice to live by: Live, laugh, love. Since Nicole Fournier was a young girl, she always wanted to be a nurse. She was born and raised on the coast, and has been in Kelowna for over 20 years. She became a health care assistant (HCA) with the plan of getting her start in nursing and eventually become a wound care nurse. However, Nicole found her work as a HCA enjoyable.  In fact, when asked her proudest moment from her 11-years-and-counting career with Interior Health, she answered “becoming a care aide.”

When a health-care professional sees a patient at an Interior Health hospital, it’s important both for the health-care professional to have access to key patient information and for the patient to feel heard and seen. Interior Health has piloted mobile, modern technology at the South Okanagan General Hospital (SOGH) to achieve just that. Interior Health currently accesses shared information about patients through a health information system called MEDITECH. In a hospital setting, workstations on wheels (WOWs) are brought into patients’ rooms so health-care professionals can connect to MEDITECH. The issue is that WOWs are often bulky, hard to maneuver and can be disruptive to sleeping patients. By using MEDITECH’s Expanse Point of Care (POC) technology, health-care professionals can trade their WOWs for mobile devices that can connect to MEDITECH and key patient information. “We could see POC’s potential and the benefits of having a pocket-sized device staff can easily take into a patient's room without disruption,” said Teresa Fortune, the clinical operations manager at SOGH. “It would also untether our clinicians from their WOWs and enable them to spend more time engaging with patients at the bedside.” 

You can’t see it, taste it or smell it, but radon gas is found everywhere in Canada. Caused by the natural breakdown of uranium in soil and rocks, radon dissipates outdoors but builds up indoors – in homes, workplaces, schools and leisure spaces. Radon gas is radioactive, and is the second-leading cause of lung cancer after smoking. It’s also the most significant indoor air carcinogen for residents of homes in Canada. According to the BC Centre for Disease Control's radon map, an estimated 30 per cent of homes within the Interior Health region are above the Canadian guideline of 200 Becquerels/m3. How do you know how much radon you have in your home? There’s only one way to find out: you have to test for it.  November is Radon Action Month in Canada. We want to introduce you to four people who are working hard to increase awareness of the risks of radon, and to promote testing, management and mitigation. This week meet Dr. Silvina Mema, deputy chief medical health officer (MHO), and Dr. Fatemeh Sabet, medical health officer and IH’s school MHO. As medical health officers, Dr. Mema and Dr. Sabet, focus on disease and injury prevention, and health promotion. Both have been closely involved with IH’s Radon in Schools project. This month we also featured Greg Baytalan, BSc, CPHI(C), specialist environmental health officer, and air quality and radon expert. We also introduced you to Nancy Mora Castro, regional air quality coordinator for the City of Kelowna.