I recently spent a day in the emergency department of a Metro Vancouver hospital, and I was shocked at what I saw.
First, kudos to the nurses and doctors working in our emergency rooms – I don’t know how they do their jobs without having nightmares all night long. They are true heroes, and this article is in no way a criticism of them. They are doing the very best they can in an impossible situation.
The listed wait time on the day of my visit was 8 hours and 40 minutes. That was pretty accurate. The person I was with was seen by a medical professional for an initial assessment within about 30 minutes of arriving, but they were not actually admitted to a hospital bed until 12 hours had passed.
That’s not a complaint, just a statement of reality. I realize we are lucky to even have an emergency room while some in the province are closed at times due to staffing shortages.
Meanwhile, while we were waiting, we could not help but overhear and witness some dreadful and terrifying events.
There were people with kidney stones, people with injuries to their arms and legs and people with vision problems. There was a man whose daughter thought he was having a stroke and another man who told the desk he was having a panic attack. One woman had been bitten by a raccoon, another by a dog.
Still, another young woman was sobbing uncontrollably while an elderly woman was quietly waiting in devastating pain while her husband tried to get someone to see her. There was a young man whose leg had swollen to double its normal size with an infection – he fell asleep beside me and leaned on me for a while as he waited.
We saw two particularly scary occurrences when two different young women both checked in separately saying they felt like they were going to have a seizure. Both were told to sit and wait, but within a few minutes, they each had seizures in the ER. Fortunately, there were several paramedics there, accompanying people who had been brought in by ambulance. After that, they both got quick medical attention.
We saw people who were newly diagnosed with tumors, who needed further testing. They were spending the most difficult day of their life, so far, in a hospital waiting room that felt like it was in a third-world country.
There were numerous people brought to the ER on stretchers or in wheelchairs who told the check-in desk they had been referred from the cancer centre for urgent treatment or tests. Like everyone else, they were told they had to wait in the chaotic waiting room. That doesn’t seem right to me. People who are suffering from cancer and are referred to emergency for extra treatment should have a separate waiting room and a separate queue. Perhaps one that allows them to come back at a certain time for their test or treatment. They are already uncomfortable and certainly won’t benefit from being exposed to any viruses while waiting.
We saw several people who had been brought to the ER by friends or neighbours to visit a loved one who was dying in the hospital. Those people were directed to a telephone in the middle of the room where they could ask how to find their friends.
My empathy was in overdrive the entire time. I felt for the staff, aghast at the demands of their jobs and how they had to become hardened to the human tragedies they witness every day, while still maintaining their professionalism and a smile. I felt for the patients, who were in pain or fearful for their health, and yet had to wait without food, without water and without the knowledge of when someone might help them. And I felt for the companions, who just wanted to help and support their loved ones but found themselves without the ability to do so.
I’ve been to my share of emergency departments over my lifetime, and this was, by far, the absolute worst I’ve ever experienced. Something has got to give because this situation isn’t sustainable, and it isn’t safe for the workers or the patients.
Tracy Sherlock is a freelance journalist who writes about education and social issues. Read her blog or email her [email protected].
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