CREWS sets the bar for rail A veterinarian for assessing weakness

terminal cancer patients.

submitted by United Counties of Leeds and Grenville

When it comes to the rail business and moving goods, the Jones family and their team are setting a high standard in efficiency.

Clayton Jones, President and owner of Canadian Rail Equipment Works & Services Inc. (CREWS), has designed and built a fast-expanding railcar transloading and storage facility. The effective design can be adapted to regions across Canada.

"By the end of this year, we will double our capacity," Clayton said during a recent tour of Johnstown's 134-acre, state-of-the-art site adjacent to the main CN line corridor. The operation is expected to go from 560 to 1,000 rail cars per day within months.

"We can bolster and strengthen the supply chain with this model," Clayton said of the Johnstown location.

CREWS specializes in "first and last mile" services, which include transloading, railcar storage and consulting. Another service is in-plant switching for larger industrial customers, one of which is the Port of Johnstown. Overall, the CREWS site is a relief valve between Toronto and Montreal.

"This is an ideal location. We're not here by accident," Clayton said, adding that when he first purchased a smaller parcel at the site seven years ago, he felt confident that it would expand quickly. Initially, it was 76 acres, but more land was needed to expand westward for Phases 5 & 6 of development. They've gone from a storage capacity of 100 to 1,000 railcars. Originally, they transloaded about 1,500 cars per year. They are now up to more than 6,000 cars per day.

"We're just scratching the surface. Now we're diversifying into other commodities and are very interested in accommodating Eastern Ontario business," said Clayton.

Clayton also founded and continues to run Jones Rail Industries Ltd., a niche company which, since 2007, designs, builds and maintains rail track for industrial clients.

Clayton credits his family and the dedicated CREWS team for having a strong safety structure in place, the foundation of an effective framework to support the business. He speaks highly of, and is grateful for his partners at CN.

Learn more about CREWS and Jones Rail by visiting their website, see their LinkedIn page, call them at 613-2586919 or send them an email.

Readers of a great age face a common problem. It’s called frailty or general weakness. The frail elderly are at risk of falls that require hospitalization, often leading to palliative care. As the condition progresses, independent living at home can become impossible. For people who have reached the end of their desire to continue, frailty presents a medical dilemma for doctors. How much frailty is needed before the doctor allows, “There’s reason enough to end life by Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID)”? And would a veterinarian be the better professional to make this decision?

One of the conditions that doctors must decide at the end of life is whether weakness is reversible. This obviously makes sense when considering life or death situations. But frailty is not like a mathematical problem where there is a right or wrong answer.

Many readers know that I have always fought to end needless suffering. I have followed the edict of Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine, who taught that doctors should do no harm. To my mind, allowing crushing agony to continue, is more than terribly harmful.

Because of this attitude, I fought for five years against well-known organizations, such as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, pharmacists, and politicians who vigorously fought against the legalization of heroin to ease the pain of terminal cancer.

Two things finally helped to legalize heroin. I visited England and Scotland where heroin had been available for 90 years for pain relief. I talked to experts about pain control which showed that the troubling perceptions surrounding heroin were wrong. And I delivered, in person, forty thousand handwritten letters from readers who had seen loved ones die in pain to the Minister of Health in Ottawa. In 1984, heroin was legalized in Canada to treat pain for

A CMAJ article reports that 53 patients who selected MAID had suffered “multiple geriatric syndromes”, a combination of medical, social and other conditions that involved unbearable suffering. These patients did not have a life-threatening disease. But their lives had degenerated to such a state that a decision to use MAID aligned with the Hippocratic oath.

Other studies show that once severe frailty occurs, patients live 3.5 to 4 years. Weaknesses often lead to great frustration and depression.

There is no universal answer to this dilemma for doctors. Some physicians will never end lives by MAID due to religious, moral, or ethical grounds. For them, there is no compromise.

My family, on the contrary, are quite pragmatic about the end of life. They know I would not want to suffer from severe frailty. A decision to conclude enough is enough would depend on my doctor, wife, and children. I have only half-jokingly expressed the opinion that I would want a veterinarian to help make the decision. I know how veterinarians ease the suffering of animals.

Our family has seen the lives of several much-loved dogs ended by painless injection when they are in agony. It’s a shattering moment to bear. But it has always seemed consoling to me that veterinarians and families, without being able to converse with pets, know when their suffering is unbearable and needs to end. Yet some doctors, who are able to discuss this matter with patients, often allow severe weakness and suffering to continue much too long.

So, doctors should listen hard when patients say, “Please, I want to die and end this agony.” After all, the patient is the only one who knows the extent of the pain. Prolonging unbearable pain makes no sense, not to the veterinarian.

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Health Unit raises awareness about bats and rabies

submitted by LGLD Health Unit

Approximately three percent of bats carry the rabies virus. The most common signs of rabies in bats are the inability to fly and resting in unusual places such as the ground or floor. It is important to remember that many of the bats that get into our homes are healthy bats and are looking for a way out.

Bats are nocturnal animals and feed most actively two to three hours following sunset. They are efficient pest controllers as they consume three times their body weight in insects per night. Bats select attics for nursery colonies, however, during the day, they roost in trees and in buildings. Bats are usually born in June. Nests are not required as the young are able to fly and obtain their own food within three weeks. Hibernation occurs between November and March. Some species typically hibernate in attics of buildings while others prefer caves.

Diseases Bats May Carry

Bats do have the potential to carry diseases such as rabies and histoplasmosis, which can affect humans and animals. They may also transmit distemper and mange to household pets.

Rabies is a disease caused by a virus that attacks the central nervous system, and is found in the saliva of infected animals. Rabies is fatal if left untreated.

Histoplasmosis is a disease caused by a fungus that grows in soil contaminated with bat or bird droppings. Exposure to the fungus occurs when the soil is disturbed. The disease primarily affects the lungs and can be fatal if left untreated. If you are cleaning areas where bat droppings have accumulated, be sure to wear a protective mask and gloves and keep dust to a minimum.

Bat Encounters

Bat exposures: If a bat is carrying the rabies virus, there is a risk of it being transmitted to an individual when both of the following conditions apply:

- There has been direct contact with a bat – direct contact with a bat is defined as the bat touching or landing on a person;

AND

- A bite, scratch, or saliva exposure into a wound or mucous membrane. If you are bitten by a bat or if saliva from a bat gets into your eyes, nose, mouth or a wound, wash the affected area thoroughly and get medical attention immediately. If the bat is available, the Health Unit can arrange for it to be tested for rabies.

In a child, any direct contact with a bat (i.e., the bat landing on or touching the child, including contact through clothes) could be considered a reason for vaccine administration, as a child may not be able to reliably communicate the encounter with the bat to determine the type of the contact (i.e., a bite, scratch or mucous membrane exposure).

If you have experienced a bat encounter and/ or may have been bitten, contact 1-800-660-5853 or, on weekends, call 613345-5685 and seek medical attention from a health care provider.

Bat Proofing Your Home Bat proofing your house is necessary when the bats are entering the living space of your home.

It is advisable to contact a pest management company or a wildlife conservation agency for assistance with bat-proofing your home.

If you find a bat in your home and there was no human or animal contact, the bat can be released to the outdoors. Wear thick gloves when handling the bat to avoid being bitten.

Rabies can also affect pets; to protect your pet from rabies, it is important to vaccinate them. Rabies vaccination is mandatory in Ontario for domestic cats and dogs. For more information, visit our website: Bats & Rabies - Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit.