"Elderly woman breaks hip at Niagara hospital, told by staff to call ambulance"

[mariomike]

Oct 18 2011
"Doreen Wallace, 82, fell at the main entrance of the Greater Niagara General Hospital and was on the ground for almost 30 minutes before medical staff tended to her.":
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/1071790--elderly-woman-breaks-hip-at-niagara-hospital-told-by-staff-to-call-ambulance?bn=1#article

"Last April, 39-year-old Jennifer James died from a “catastrophic heart event” a few days after emergency department staff refused to help her in the parking lot after her boyfriend drove her there when she lost consciousness and stopped breathing. He was told to call 911 instead.

And in July, local Councillor Joyce Morocco, who has a history of heart problems and asthma, was semi-consciousness when taken to the same hospital by her husband. He was also told to call an ambulance.

Morocco survived, and the hospital’s then-interim president apologized.

Apparently, hospital staff wrongly thought they would not be covered by insurance if they treated a patient outside a hospital building."

 

[FlyingDutchman]

Don't most hospitals have parmedics/ambulances that could treat her right there, or is that a feature that is unique to my hospital?

 

[FormerHorseGuard]

The Riverside Hospital in Ottawa Ontario does not have  E.R services and they have signs posted all over the hospital grounds stating this.
There was a person who fell in the local hospital and required help they sent the person to the ER instead of helping the person on the spot, the doctor who saw it said it would be best to send them to ER , the staff there was more capable of helping then a floor nurse or himself.
It makes me wonder about hospitals and staff, and the lawyers who run the hospitals indirectly.

 

[mariomike]

Don't most hospitals have parmedics/ambulances that could treat her right there, or is that a feature that is unique to my hospital?

In Niagara, the Region operates EMS, rather than the hospital:
http://www.niagararegion.ca/living/health_wellness/ems/default.aspx
Depending on availability, the ambulance could be coming from anywhere. Even from another region.

 

[FlyingDutchman]

I learned something new today, thank you.

 

[mariomike]

It makes me wonder about hospitals and staff, and the lawyers who run the hospitals indirectly.

It makes me wonder about their disaster plans, if one little old lady on a quiet day presents such a challenge.

 

[Hunter]

I've never been dispatched to one myself would say that pretty much every day I hear over the radio an ambulance being sent to the Ottawa Heart Institute (part of the Civic Hospital campus) for a patient with chest pain.

 

[jeffb]

Do doctors, nurses, etc, indirectly in the public employ thanks to OHIP in this case, not have a duty of care to render medical assistance? I can understand one incident if they were unclear about their insurance coverage but surely after the Hospital president apologized, someone would have let the front-line staff know what the policy is?

 

[Nemo888]

The Niagara Health System is a pilot project by the Provincial government to cut health care costs. This is not the first time it has failed miserably. Closing emerg to save just over a million turned into 3 million in ambulance costs. Cutting housekeeping costs and contracting out led to a huge c.difficile outbreak. It's providing significantly less health care for marginal cost savings on paper. It may be actually costing more when the cost of follow up care for worsened conditions is factored in. It's also killing people with pre-existing conditions.

Only the ortho surgeon was qualified to move her. The nurses have insufficient training and were worried about aggravating her injury. A security guard and two nurses waited on the woman till they found the orthped who got her into a wheelchair.  Treating her at Greater Niagara General Hospital would have been impossible. A broken hip requires over 150 pounds of sterilized instruments, a fully staffed surgical suite, a trained orthopedic surgeon and the right sized implants. They only had the orthopedist, who may not even know how to do hip surgery. What was he supposed to put her hip back together with? Parts from Home Depot? She needed transport to a hospital with the correct equipment. This story is stupid.

 

[mariomike]

The Niagara Health System is a pilot project by the Provincial government to cut health care costs. This is not the first time it has failed miserably. Closing emerg to save just over a million turned into 3 million in ambulance costs.

FYI, they are having an inquest regarding ER closures in that area, if interested:
"The crash occurred on rural Highway 3, almost exactly halfway between two hospitals in Fort Erie and Port Colborne, Ont.
However, emergency rooms at both hospitals had been closed, and paramedics were forced to make the longer drive to Welland, Ont.":
http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20111031/inquest-teen-death-traffic-accident-111031/20111031/?hub=TorontoNewHome

 

[Scott]

It makes me wonder about their disaster plans, if one little old lady on a quiet day presents such a challenge.

Sounds like the perfect reason to send firefighters ;D

 

[mariomike]

Sounds like the perfect reason to send firefighters ;D

Scott, every paramedic must know that when the chips are down,...for the firemen it is all or nothing.
I remember standing on the sidewalk seeing a fireman literally blown out of a house by flames and heat. He crawled back in, and was again blown out. This time with second degree burns on his hands and knees. I was pouring saline on his burns, but he says he heard a woman inside. So, he crawled back in and dragged her out. She wasn't small either. She was still alive. His chief had to order him into the ambulance. I am sure he would have gone back in otherwise. 

 

[Scott]

Scott, every paramedic must know that when the chips are down,...for the firemen it is all or nothing.
I remember standing on the sidewalk seeing a fireman literally blown out of a house by flames and heat. He crawled back in, and was again blown out. This time with second degree burns on his hands and knees. I was pouring saline on his burns, but he says he heard a woman inside. So, he crawled back in and dragged her out. She wasn't small either. She was still alive. His chief had to order him into the ambulance. I am sure he would have gone back in otherwise.

Mike,

I was just having some fun at your expense in lieu of the reporting on the TFD/TEMS fiasco that is currently happening.