abbotsford
Mar 6th 2007, 8:47 am
#76
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Sep 2003
Location: Poland
Posts: 577
Re: abbotsford
Just thought I would add another little snippet regarding the hospital here in Abbotsford:
After saying we hadn't used the medical system (I think I jinxed us!) we ended up in A&E at the weekend. We all caught a tummy bug this week after which our eldest daughter started developing unexplained bruises on her legs and arms, finally on Saturday a huge bruise suddenly appeared on her arm which prompted our swift departure to the MSA Hospital in Abbotsford, we arrived went straight up to the nurses desk, our daughter was assessed and we were called within 10 minutes into a cubical, half an hour later she was seen by a doctor who ordered some blood tests which were done almost immediately, then there was some waiting for results approx 1 hour, then a nurse came in and said she was going to need to be treated with some blood products and put a line in her arm, next arrives the ped doc to explain that the virus had caused her anitbodies to attack the platelets in her blood, she was admitted up to the ped ward for treatment, the whole process took approx 4-5 hours, she stayed in the hospital until this afternoon. During the whole process the staff were great, the nurses friendly and caring, the doctors explaining what was going on. The wait in A&E was nothing compared to the UK and we were very impressed with the hospital, you couldn't have asked for better care and service, just as my daughter was due to come home one of the earlier doctors came up to see how she was doing, what more can I say. In our experience the hospital did just fine!!
After saying we hadn't used the medical system (I think I jinxed us!) we ended up in A&E at the weekend. We all caught a tummy bug this week after which our eldest daughter started developing unexplained bruises on her legs and arms, finally on Saturday a huge bruise suddenly appeared on her arm which prompted our swift departure to the MSA Hospital in Abbotsford, we arrived went straight up to the nurses desk, our daughter was assessed and we were called within 10 minutes into a cubical, half an hour later she was seen by a doctor who ordered some blood tests which were done almost immediately, then there was some waiting for results approx 1 hour, then a nurse came in and said she was going to need to be treated with some blood products and put a line in her arm, next arrives the ped doc to explain that the virus had caused her anitbodies to attack the platelets in her blood, she was admitted up to the ped ward for treatment, the whole process took approx 4-5 hours, she stayed in the hospital until this afternoon. During the whole process the staff were great, the nurses friendly and caring, the doctors explaining what was going on. The wait in A&E was nothing compared to the UK and we were very impressed with the hospital, you couldn't have asked for better care and service, just as my daughter was due to come home one of the earlier doctors came up to see how she was doing, what more can I say. In our experience the hospital did just fine!!
Mar 6th 2007, 2:50 pm
#77
Banned
Joined: Dec 2006
Location: Beautiful BC
Posts: 1,106
Re: abbotsford
Just thought I would add another little snippet regarding the hospital here in Abbotsford:
After saying we hadn't used the medical system (I think I jinxed us!) we ended up in A&E at the weekend. We all caught a tummy bug this week after which our eldest daughter started developing unexplained bruises on her legs and arms, finally on Saturday a huge bruise suddenly appeared on her arm which prompted our swift departure to the MSA Hospital in Abbotsford, we arrived went straight up to the nurses desk, our daughter was assessed and we were called within 10 minutes into a cubical, half an hour later she was seen by a doctor who ordered some blood tests which were done almost immediately, then there was some waiting for results approx 1 hour, then a nurse came in and said she was going to need to be treated with some blood products and put a line in her arm, next arrives the ped doc to explain that the virus had caused her anitbodies to attack the platelets in her blood, she was admitted up to the ped ward for treatment, the whole process took approx 4-5 hours, she stayed in the hospital until this afternoon. During the whole process the staff were great, the nurses friendly and caring, the doctors explaining what was going on. The wait in A&E was nothing compared to the UK and we were very impressed with the hospital, you couldn't have asked for better care and service, just as my daughter was due to come home one of the earlier doctors came up to see how she was doing, what more can I say. In our experience the hospital did just fine!!
After saying we hadn't used the medical system (I think I jinxed us!) we ended up in A&E at the weekend. We all caught a tummy bug this week after which our eldest daughter started developing unexplained bruises on her legs and arms, finally on Saturday a huge bruise suddenly appeared on her arm which prompted our swift departure to the MSA Hospital in Abbotsford, we arrived went straight up to the nurses desk, our daughter was assessed and we were called within 10 minutes into a cubical, half an hour later she was seen by a doctor who ordered some blood tests which were done almost immediately, then there was some waiting for results approx 1 hour, then a nurse came in and said she was going to need to be treated with some blood products and put a line in her arm, next arrives the ped doc to explain that the virus had caused her anitbodies to attack the platelets in her blood, she was admitted up to the ped ward for treatment, the whole process took approx 4-5 hours, she stayed in the hospital until this afternoon. During the whole process the staff were great, the nurses friendly and caring, the doctors explaining what was going on. The wait in A&E was nothing compared to the UK and we were very impressed with the hospital, you couldn't have asked for better care and service, just as my daughter was due to come home one of the earlier doctors came up to see how she was doing, what more can I say. In our experience the hospital did just fine!!
Glad to hear everything turned out OK, what a relief. Wonder if one of the doctors was our original poster? Anyone with an English accent?!
Seriously, we hear such horror stories lately of medical care, and I've had experience in both countries which were bad, so it's great to hear a positive story.
Mar 6th 2007, 5:16 pm
#78
Cynically amused.
Joined: Oct 2002
Location: BC
Posts: 3,648
Re: abbotsford
Glad to hear everything turned out OK, what a relief. Wonder if one of the doctors was our original poster? Anyone with an English accent?!
Seriously, we hear such horror stories lately of medical care, and I've had experience in both countries which were bad, so it's great to hear a positive story.
Seriously, we hear such horror stories lately of medical care, and I've had experience in both countries which were bad, so it's great to hear a positive story.
. The care my son received at MSA at that time was very good.
Mar 6th 2007, 11:47 pm
#79
Forum Regular
Joined: Jul 2006
Location: Abbotsford, BC
Posts: 56
Re: abbotsford
Glad to hear everything turned out OK, what a relief. Wonder if one of the doctors was our original poster? Anyone with an English accent?!
Seriously, we hear such horror stories lately of medical care, and I've had experience in both countries which were bad, so it's great to hear a positive story.
Seriously, we hear such horror stories lately of medical care, and I've had experience in both countries which were bad, so it's great to hear a positive story.
Mar 13th 2007, 4:51 am
#80
Living It!
Joined: Mar 2005
Location: Abbotsford, BC
Posts: 145
Re: abbotsford
Regular work will be there (as long as you get the journeyman ticket(s) that allow you to work.) Schools...well I have my own opinions (I have had kids in all Grades up to and including Grade 12)....if I had the money I would pay for my children's education in BC. I have had to compromise and put most of them in Catholic school, they at least teach them to read and write there! I disagree with the notion that the less academic schools produce "well rounded" individuals. I am currently training two fourth year University students, both of whom would not pass a basic written English test if their lives depended on it. Abstract concepts and critical thought - forget it. They are, IMHO, the products of a very deficient system, but very nice people nonetheless. If you were to put them outside of this country however, they would flounder. A nice lifestyle - again, very subjective. I live in a nice part of town and have a very nice house, but we are all bored to tears and cannot wait to leave. Crime rates are really no different, just drug based crimes as opposed to alcohol fuelled crime and more fatal crimes than injuries. I posted the stats somewhere else a while back, I cannot remember where. Abbotsford demographic is also now 53% Sikh, which is great for diversity and brings some much needed alternative influences to what was quite a right wing white area. As you can imagine, not everyone thinks that way and racial tensions are clearly there. Horses for courses, you may like it, you may hate it. You won't know until you try however!
Abbotsford is a nice city, but it is not without it's problems. I know this because just over a month after getting here a man living directly opposite my house was shot 7 times. I drove around the corner 2 minutes after. I was a cop in the UK but as you can imagagine I was still shocked by the incident. One of the cops who showed up at my house on scene guard was from Sloihull B'ham and re-assured me that it was just bad luck - trust me to have moved directly opposite Abbotsford's major crime synicate! Anyway and thankfully, the family have moved to that lovely crime free city of Surrey. Despite this event I love living in Abbotsford it is a wonderful city, with lots of opportunities for those who wish to take them, plenty to do and good schools (we have looked around a few), we have wonderful friends who live in our road and have a much healthier full social life than we ever did in UK.
The only question I would ask anyone moving to Abbotsford is: "if your work involves travelling west on Highway 1 every morning, can you put up with the awful traffic problems of getting to Surrey, Burnaby, Vancouver etc?" I wish I had a job which kept me in Abby instead I have to travel all over lower mainland and I always hate using Highway 1 - and before I moved here I travelled everday from Sussex to London!!!!
Mar 13th 2007, 4:57 am
#81
Living It!
Joined: Mar 2005
Location: Abbotsford, BC
Posts: 145
Re: abbotsford
We live in Abbotsford, we have found the people very friendly and helpful, moved into our house, chatted straight away to neighbours, they are no more unaccepting than we can be. Yes they are quite religious here, but you don't have to join the 'gang' they don't look down their noses if your not religious, to live in another country you have to go with the flow, and by the way who does like being criticised! wouldn't you defend the area you lived in, especially if that criticism came from a 'foreigner'. The new Hospital is due to open in 2008, can't comment too much on the medical side as we haven't needed it, but we have used the walk-in clinic which was quick, efficient and friendly, more than I can say for the UK. As far as teenage pregnancy is concerned this is not just the responsibility of the schools, as parents its up to you to make sure your children are well informed, they do have sex education in Abbotsford as my 15 year old is doing it at the moment (although she's already done it in the UK), as we've only just arrived this year I can't comment on what year this starts.
It wouldn't matter which area you moved to none would be perfect, but in our opinion Abbotsford is a nice place to live, but like any other large town you have to choose the right part of it to live in.
It wouldn't matter which area you moved to none would be perfect, but in our opinion Abbotsford is a nice place to live, but like any other large town you have to choose the right part of it to live in.
Mar 13th 2007, 6:36 am
#82
Cynically amused.
Joined: Oct 2002
Location: BC
Posts: 3,648
Re: abbotsford
) that the stat was stratified by ethnicity for the purposes of the type of service provision the figure was produced for - i.e. of the identified service user, non caucasian population looked at, 53% were from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, all listed erroneously as Sikh. I did say it was a draft. It has been corrected at the source.
Mar 14th 2007, 1:17 am
#85
Living It!
Joined: Mar 2005
Location: Abbotsford, BC
Posts: 145
Re: abbotsford
This was clarified elsewhere (I think ) that the stat was stratified by ethnicity for the purposes of the type of service provision the figure was produced for - i.e. of the identified service user, non caucasian population looked at, 53% were from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, all listed erroneously as Sikh. I did say it was a draft. It has been corrected at the source.
) that the stat was stratified by ethnicity for the purposes of the type of service provision the figure was produced for - i.e. of the identified service user, non caucasian population looked at, 53% were from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, all listed erroneously as Sikh. I did say it was a draft. It has been corrected at the source."Numbers indicate Protestantism, Sikhism, Catholicism and Orthodox Christianity have the highest numbers in the area. This is similar to provincial ratios, except for Sikhism which boasts 11 per cent in Abbotsford but only three per cent in the province. In Abbotsford over 56,000 people declare Protestant and more than 16,000 declare Sikh as their religions. This is attributed to Abbotsford being one of the original settlement areas for Sikhism."
I would like to point out that I only disagree with the quote that 53% of Abbotsford is Sikh, it would not bother me either way, I am not a religious person and do not consider myself racist. I love living here in Abbotsford, it is a wonderful diverse community.
Mar 20th 2007, 11:27 am
#86
Forum Regular
Joined: Mar 2007
Location: Queensland
Posts: 100
Re: abbotsford
Are you a nurse Saund_cp?
I am looking to move to Canada as a nurse and the Abbotsford area looks appealing. If you are would it be ok to pm you for a chat?
Steven
I am looking to move to Canada as a nurse and the Abbotsford area looks appealing. If you are would it be ok to pm you for a chat?
Steven
Mar 20th 2007, 1:28 pm
#87
Forum Regular
Joined: Feb 2007
Location: Cambs England via Milano Italy to Calgary AB
Posts: 65
Re: abbotsford
Don't they pay teachers more money in Alberta though than BC?
Anyway all of this banter, still hasn't helped my kids, they have definitely gone backwards since being here. I'm happy to call it quits, I tried and failed them here so back home we go. I think I've made the point I wanted to make so cheerio everyone!
Anyway all of this banter, still hasn't helped my kids, they have definitely gone backwards since being here. I'm happy to call it quits, I tried and failed them here so back home we go. I think I've made the point I wanted to make so cheerio everyone!
We all have our own views on education and I assume all parents want what is best for their kids... here is my personal take:
Attended school A, Ont Canada
Attended school B, Ont Canada
Attended school C, Ont Canada
Attended school D, Ayrshire, Scotland
Attended school E, Ont Canada
Attended school F, Cambridgeshire, England
From my personal experience, schooling in general was better in Canada... yes there were some subjects that were taught better in the UK, but not too many and litteracy was not one of them!! A fair few british students I know have problems reading, writing and spelling!
The entire school experience was better in Canada.. happier place to be, more sports opportunities, more after class opportunities in all types of activities ranging from photography to music etc. UK school had no after school activities.
Moving your family back to the UK because the school is failing your children...
Apart from your view on the Canadian schooling, what future will your kids have in the UK, compared to Canada? Surely your kids future is not only about school.... surely they can be great without XX school qualifications? Quality of life, availability of work, etc must come into the equation?
I hope that whatever you choose, it works out for you... it's nice to see parents thinking about their kids....
UKCamaroSS
Mar 20th 2007, 9:48 pm
#88
Living It!
Joined: Mar 2005
Location: Abbotsford, BC
Posts: 145
Re: abbotsford
PM me your email. It is my wife who is the nurse here in Abbotsford. I will ask her to email you.
Mar 20th 2007, 10:29 pm
#89
Forum Regular
Joined: Mar 2007
Location: Queensland
Posts: 100
Re: abbotsford
Hi Saund, tried to mail you but your profile does not allow me to send you an email. Is there another way to pm you?
Cheers for reply,
Steven
Cheers for reply,
Steven
