‘Chaos in our ERs’
Woman shocked by impact of addictions during 22-hour stint at HSC
An intoxicated man soaked in blood walks into a Winnipeg emergency room and reveals a stab wound on his neck, joking, “That girl on Main got me good.”
Another person who was removed by security officers sneaks back in and tries to drink from the hand sanitizer dispenser.
The sliding door at the entrance opens nearly non-stop with people looking for a warm place to have a nap. Five security guards have their hands full with unruly patients, including one who swears at the nurses.
At one point there are seven police cruisers at the hospital with patients in handcuffs. A woman who overdosed regains consciousness and screams “Where the f—- am I!” Another is hallucinating, yelling and banging her head against the wall.
Those were just some of the events witnessed by retired North End teacher Tracy Reimer, who spent 22 hours in the ER at Health Sciences Centre on the weekend as she waited with a family member seeking treatment. Reimer said she was gobsmacked by the chaos nursing staff and security faced with a revolving door of people who were high and needed — or demanded — a lot of attention.
“It’s like day care for people with addictions. I feel so bad they’re addicted,” said Reimer, who asked one of the nurses how she was able to cope. “She said ‘This is what we deal with every day.’
“It’s exhausting to watch.”
Staff responded to cardiac and stroke emergencies as she observed intoxicated persons coming and going and coming back again, she said.
“There are people who’ve come and gone three times — they come in, get warm, get food and they’re triaged and they disappear,” said Reimer. “They know everybody by first name.”
She saw nurses conduct attendance and blood pressure checks on those who remained. Those who left and returned had to be triaged all over again.
Our bureaucratically top heavy (like ANY government department?) health care system is in much worse condition than I think most Canadians understand. A very recent (about a month ago) ER horror story. Aside from the Grace Hospital here in Winnipeg lopping off a patient’s good leg a couple of weeks ago by mistake (search it). How does that even happen? Getting the correct leg amputated is a 50/50 Canadian Health Care crap shoot?
Not to be confused with some 3rd world country but based on my own observations a couple of months ago when I was ‘escorting’ a seriously ill family member. Winnipeg’s Health Science Centre ER is a combo of a zombie apocalypse and an insane asylum. There are about 5 or 6 uniform security officers on duty 24/7 to try and keep a lid on the place. I have experienced plenty enough in my former career, but I’ve got to say I do not know how these front line health care workers don’t lose their flipping minds. How they endure shift after shift of this (to the best of their ability) organized chaos is astonishing. I don’t care how much they get paid, they do not get paid enough. OK, now try and wrap your head around this. Happening right now. In Canada.
One of my oldest buddies from high school had an accident in his wood working shop a few short weeks back. He severed all of the fingers on his right (dominant) hand including a portion of his thumb. He says first responders were fantastic, arriving in about 5 minutes. His digits were collected up and packed in ice in a zip lock bag and off he went by ambulance to the HSC ER. He was signed over to the ER staff and given a seat in the ER. That’s when the system seems to have completely collapsed. Wrap your head around this….
He then sat for 5 1/2 hrs in the ER holding his arm vertical wrapped in bandages, his fingers in the bag on the chair beside him. Over those hours he says occasionally someone would come and ask him how he was managing the pain. Otherwise he was left to sit alone watching the endless ‘gong show’ going on around him. He said there was a steady stream of pairs of EMS and/or Winnipeg Police Officers bringing in stabbing victims, beating victims, drug overdoses, drunks and a host of other people experiencing serious emotional issues. All seemed (probably legitimately life threatening) to get higher priority. As the hours rolled by my friend watched the ice melt in the baggie, his fingers turn white and wrinkly floating around like ugly little sausages. When he finally got taken into the OR the diagnosis was it was too late to attempt to reattach. Could earlier medical intervention saved his fingers? I guess nobody will ever know. Surgeons shaved down the finger bones to get a flap of skin to stich over the ends. His hand was bandaged up and eventually he was sent home in taxi.
This story went unreported to the media. How many other similar horror stories never see the light of day? A frightening thought. Oh, a final thought. Personally I do not believe a lack of money has anything to do with the current state of our health care system. Remember this Ronald Reagan quote. “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help’.
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“He said there was a steady stream of pairs of EMS and/or Winnipeg Police Officers bringing in stabbing victims, beating victims, drug overdoses, drunks and a host of other people experiencing serious emotional issues”.
All I think are frightening signs of a society in serious decline