Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Canada Woman breaks leg at hospital, told to call ambulance

This is off topic, but worthy of mention. If it wasn't so painful, it would be funny. What the hell was the ER thinking?

Woman breaks leg at hospital, told to call ambulance
The Canadian Press

NIAGARA FALLS, Ont. � A review is underway at a Niagara Falls hospital after an elderly patient fell at the facility and was told to call an ambulance for help.

Doreen Wallace, 82, fell inside the double doors of the Greater Niagara General Hospital last weekend, breaking her leg and cutting her arm.

A security guard asked the ER for help, but was told Wallace would have to phone for an ambulance.

Wallace's son did call 911, but by the time the ambulance arrived a half hour later, his mother had been cared for by a surgeon who was walking by.

The supervisor of the Niagara Health System says he's disappointed Wallace didn't get the care she deserved and adds that the NHS has apologized to the family.

Kevin Smith says in the future, NHS policy in dealing with visitors who need help will focus on "rapid response and transport to the most appropriate clinical setting."

Perfect example of whats coming with Obama Care in this country

Actually in the days of orderlies many patients sued because of further injuries in these situations. Cut backs have made hospitals so short staffed that there is often no one available appropriately trained to provide transport or initial imobilization.

Paramedics are the people with the highest level of training to provide care in these circumstances. The irony of the situation is not lost on us either though. We are frequently called to hospitals in the area for the highest priority calls. We have also been called to respond to ERs to provide care in the waiting line. Our health care system is a mess. Off load delays of up to 3 hours are common enough that upstaffing of ambulances are freqently necessary, resulting in ovrtime pay as off duty crews are called in to meet emergency needs. There is now a process where extra medics are put on shifts to cover watching numeerous non emergent patients so that the emergency calls can be serviced by those ambulances so freed up.

I work in a community 60 km from the nearest city and at least 5 times a week and as many as 15 times a week we are sent to true emergency calls in the city that cannot be responded to in an adequate time fram from the city ambulances. There is talk of
relocating the country services away from their rural areas so that faster response can be made to city citizens. There is a political can of worms. City people are more deserving than rural of a timely resonse????.

Sorry Steve, this is obviously a point that impacts heavily on me. I could go on and on but whining is not really my nature.

Randy

Oh, it's okay. Stories like this speak badly about the state of our healthcare.

You have trained staff that steps away from an older person who would be in pain and in need of assistance. I hope that the supervisor of the Niagara Health System, Kevin Smith, does more than just apologise. Whoever was in the ER needs their hands slapped hard and changes need to be made to hospital procedures!

I wonder what this means for people having surgery.

Example: Does one of the surgical staff call an ambulance if someone having their tonsils out has their arm broken accidentally?

In that case if the facility can deal with the new problem, no. If the patient needs the expertise of a different facility, yes. It sounds really stupid but not all hospitals have ER departments, some Hospitals are designated as Orthopedic, some acute care and some chronic care.

We transport all the time for critical patients in chronic hospitals to the Regional Health Sciences centre and have on occasion been called to people on the front steps who needed assistance.

Many of the outlying hospitals in the GTA, and surrounding rural areas are having their ERs shut down or run at reduced hours and staffing. Budgets have been cut since 1990 levels and MOH will dictate to Hospitals where they need to trim budgets in order to stay open. We have Ambulances transferring patients three hours to get care.

I work in the norrthwest so there are few enough hospitals as is but they are being impacted

It makes a person want to scream.

Or turn to Prozak or lorezapan.

Just kidding, but it is really frustrating. I was on a call the other day where we had a 3hr 55min wait to be seen once arrived at hospital. The only reason whe were seen then is because the chief of staff came back to do some work afteer hours and had talked to us before leaving. When he arrived he pulled me aside and asked if it was the same patient. When he found out it was he told the ER she was next to be seen. It is so busy there are many days we get no opportunity for a mid 12 hour shift meal. breakfast gets a little thin after 12 hours.

I treated myself one day for extreme low blood sugars. It gives you cause to wonder when it will all end.

The Niagara hospitals have a lousy reputation.Smith was put there to clean things up but old habits die hard.We had excellent care for my MIL at both Norfolk and Hamilton General Hospitals.

Glenn

We had the same thing happen here in Portland, Or. Man with a heart attack outside the Emerg. room. The people assisting him were told to call 911. He died.

That must have triggered a lawsuit! I cannot fathom how a hospital staff could watch something like that unfold before their eyes without taking action.