Counting down the days until Solar Eclipse 2024, and Windsor Regional Hospital has detailed their plans for the big day.
Several locations throughout Windsor and Essex County will be in the path of totality during the solar eclipse on Monday, April 8.
The path of totality is a narrow corridor, approximately 100 to 115 km wide, where the sun appears to be completely covered by the moon for a short period of time.
Clinical VP at WRH, Kristi Cecile, says they'll be keeping staff, patients and visitors safe on Monday.
"We are providing that group of individuals with solar eclipse UV glasses. They can utilize the glasses when they're leaving the building between 12 p.m. and 4 p.m. in preparation for the eclipse if they were to look directly at the sun. We are also providing them to our staff when they're entering the building between those times, we'll have them available on our shuttle for our staff," she said.
Cecile says they're asking people not to drive around with the glasses on, and they're advising staff and visitors not to look directly at the sun without them.
That's because there is a huge risk to the eyes if someone looks directly at the eclipse.
"We have been advised that you can have severe retina damage if you're looking directly at the eclipse. During the time we're advising not to look directly at the sun unless they're using the UV glasses. We are not supposed to experience an eclipse again until 2099, so we do know that a lot of people are coming our way to Windsor-Essex and they're coming here to view the eclipse."
Cecile says they have a plan in place for Monday as well due to the potential for issues.
"Windsor Regional Hospital has been in contact with our EMS partners, our regional partners and working very close with Erie Shores as well. We know we're going to have an influx of people down this way especially on Pelee Island and in Essex. We are influxing our staff here for emergency visits, as well as our inpatient visits, to ensure that we are prepared for the volume we are going to see that day," she said.
Locally, the partial phase should start at 1:58 p.m. and end at 4:28 p.m., while the totality should take place from 3:12 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. across the region.