Body bags may be anathema on First Nations reserves, but other communities are buying them as if there were no tomorrow. Via Canada.com, an Ottawa Citizen report: Medical supply companies scrambling to fill H1N1 requests
.
With rising sales of surgical masks and hand sanitizers, fears of a swine flu outbreak have kicked off a small boom in Canada's medical supply industry as distributors scramble to fill orders for products to prevent transmission of the H1N1 virus.
Most ominously, demand for "human remains pouches" is up as governments prepare for worst-case scenarios, says a Scarborough, Ont., company that manufactures the body bags.
"Some of the better-organized municipalities and provinces, and states in the U.S., are getting on the program now and buying inventory for storage," said Pierre Barcik, president of Trevor Owen Ltd. "Hopefully, they never have to use it."
Barcik's company manufactures specialized pandemic body bags that are designed to withstand temperatures to -40C, "while still containing all body fluids . . . to prevent leakage or seepage."
The Alberta government has bought from him, and he recently filled an order for the City of Waterloo for 500 units, Barcik said.
