又一名加拿大女子在醫院急診室等7個小時死亡
2023年01月13日 加國無憂 51.CA作者：談海
Nova Scotia剛剛被媒體報道一個年輕女子在急診室等候7小時後死亡的悲劇，又一名Nova Scotia省女子在急診室等了7個小時後求醫無望離開，不幸很快就去世了。死者的家屬震驚、憤怒，站出來呼籲改變該省
醫療保健係統，不要讓死者白白死去。
來自Cape Breton的Port Caledonia的Katherine Snow 說，她的家人在婆婆去世後感到憤怒。她要為死去的婆婆做這件事，為想念奶奶的女兒做這件事。
Snow說，婆婆Charlene於2022年12月30日下午因下巴劇烈疼痛和流感樣症狀前往Cape Breton地區醫院。
Snow說，婆婆去醫院前已經臥病在床好幾天了，她聽說過去幾周醫院人滿為患，她不想忍受等待的時間。
盡管如此，她實在無法忍受疼痛還是在那個星期五去了醫院。
Snow說，我們一直與她保持聯係，因為她一個人在急診室裏。我丈夫提出要進來和她坐在一起，但她說急診室裏已經坐滿了，沒有地方可以坐下來陪伴她。
Snow說，這位67歲的女子等了7小時後最終放棄，並打電話給她的丈夫Freddie開車載她回家。
但她實在太不舒服了，她決定第二天早上去當地的門診碰碰運氣。
遺憾的是她沒能熬到第二天早上。離開醫院後僅一個小時，她的心跳就停止了。
在過去的12天裏，Charlene的家人經曆了幾個階段的悲痛。他們震驚，然後是悲傷，之後是生氣。
在新斯科舍省衛生部的一封電子郵件聲明中，衛生廳長表示聽到Charlene去世的消息深感悲痛。在這個困難時期，我希望向家人表示誠摯的思念和哀悼。
Snow說，她的家人與患者權益保護部門進行了交談，要求對當晚發生的事情進行審查。就在接受Global News采訪之前，她收到了醫院急診室醫生的一張便條，稱他們正在調查此事。
Snow說，我們隻想知道發生了什麽，這對我們來說太突然了。
衛生廳長在發給Global News的電子郵件中證實，Nova Scotia Health在得知此事後立即進行了初步審查。調查結果將在完成後與家人分享，並將根據調查的建議采取行動。
廳長說，我知道醫療係統一段時間以來一直承受著巨大的壓力，包括急診室的等待時間。我想讓新斯科舍人知道我們致力於得到答案。盡管有壓力，我還是敦促新斯科舍人：請在需要時繼續尋求醫療服務。
當天晚些時候，省長Tim Houston發電子郵件聲明：我向家人表示衷心的哀悼。這對他們、他們的朋友和布雷頓角社區來說都是一個可怕的損失。
我了解新斯科舍省衛生廳已開始調查以確定發生了什麽，並將與家人分享結果。
我知道我們急診室的等待時間令人擔憂。我可以向您保證，我們正在探索各種方法，以改善患者在最需要時通過我們的係統獲得護理的機會。我們將繼續向公眾通報我們的進展。
周四早上，Snow推出了一個名為 Nova Scotia Healthcare Crisis 的網站，她希望該網站能鼓勵有類似經曆的新斯科舍人分享他們的故事。
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'Shock, sadness, anger' Another N.S. woman dies after 7-hour ER wait, family says
WATCH: Another Nova Scotia woman has died following a seven-hour emergency room wait over the holidays. Katherine Snow is calling for change after she says her mother-in-law left the hospital due to the delay and passed away shortly after. Meantime, an expert is weighing in saying people's trust in Nova Scotia's healthcare system has been broken. Skye Bryden-Blom reports.
A Nova Scotia woman says her mother-in-law died after she left an emergency room where she waited for seven hours before giving up.
Now she’s gathering stories from Nova Scotians with similar experiences to spark change in the province’s health-care system.
“I did not think I would be sitting in this chair yesterday morning, advocating potentially for better health care,” said Katherine Snow from Port Caledonia in Cape Breton.
“But I’ll do it for my mother-in-law, and I’ll do it for my daughter who is missing her nan.”
Katherine Snow said in a video chat with Global News her family is feeling anger after the death of her mother-in-law. Global News
Snow’s mother-in-law, Charlene, arrived at the Cape Breton Regional Hospital in the early afternoon of Dec. 30, 2022 with “intense jaw pain” and flu-like symptoms.
Snow said Charlene had been ill in bed for days, and having heard of overcrowded hospitals in the past weeks, she didn’t want to endure the wait times.
Nonetheless, she “mustered up the energy to go” that Friday.
“We stayed in frequent touch with her because she was in there by herself. My husband offered to come in and sit with her… But she said it was so full that there weren’t any seats for anyone to sit down and keep her company,” Snow said.
The 67-year-old woman waited seven hours before giving up and calling her husband, Freddie, for a drive home, Snow said.
“It just became too uncomfortable for her,” she said. “She decided that she would leave and try her luck at the local outpatient clinic the next morning.“
Charlene didn’t make it to the next morning; Her heart stopped just an hour after leaving the hospital.
Charlene Snow was 67 years old when she died just an hour after leaving a Cape Breton emergency room, without being seen by a doctor. Submitted by Katherine Snow
In the obituary, Charlene Snow’s family described her as the matriarch of the family, the “glue.” She’s remembered for her “extremely kind heart, hilarious wit and contagious laugh.”
Her family has gone through several stages of grief in the past 12 days.
“We definitely experienced shock and then sadness. And now I think… we’re definitely in the in the part where we’re angry.“
In an email statement from the Nova Scotia Department of Health and Wellness, Minister Michelle Thompson said she was “deeply saddened” to hear about Charlene’s passing.
“I wish to extend my sincere thoughts and condolences to the family during this difficult time.”
Katherine Snow said her family spoke to a patient advocate department to request a review of what happened that night. Just before speaking with Global News, she received a note from an ER physician at the Sydney hospital saying that they are looking into it.
“We just want to know what happened,” she said. “It would be reassuring for us if we knew that everything was done that could have been done. And if not, we want to know why things weren’t done that could have been done.
“It’s a big part of the grieving process for us because it was so sudden.”
Thompson confirmed in the email to Global News that Nova Scotia Health conducted an initial review as soon as they became aware of the incident.
“There is now a formal investigation to determine what happened. The results of the investigation will be shared with the family when complete and the recommendations from the investigation will be acted on,” the statement read.
“I know firsthand that we have very skilled healthcare professionals that work in our emergency departments and across the healthcare system that work tirelessly to provide Nova Scotians the care they need and deserve,” the minister said, in part.
“I know the healthcare system has been under immense pressure for some time, including the wait times in emergency departments. I want Nova Scotians to know we are committed to getting answers. Despite the pressure, I am urging Nova Scotians: please continue to seek care when you need it.”
Later in the day, an emailed statement from Premier Tim Houston read:
“My heartfelt condolences go out to the family. This is a terrible loss for them, their friends and the Cape Breton community.
I understand that Nova Scotia Health has started an investigation to determine what happened, and the results will be shared with the family.
I know that wait times in our emergency departments are concerning. I can assure you that the Minister of Health and Wellness and Nova Scotia Health are exploring all ways to improve patient access to care throughout our system when they need it the most. We will continue to update the public with our progress.”
Though the grieving family is angry about their sudden loss, Snow says the anger isn’t directed towards health-care workers.
“We understand that the staff that work within the health care system are suffering as much as the patients that need to take advantage of it,” she said. “We in no way want any anger or bad thoughts directed at staff members who are already working under such challenging conditions.”
What they do want are answers — and change.
Channeling grief into inspiring change
Thursday morning, Snow launched a website titled Nova Scotia Healthcare Crisis, which she hopes will encourage Nova Scotians with similar experiences to share their stories.
“We weren’t really sure what we were going to do when (Charlene) first passed away,” Snow said. “We knew that we didn’t want to let it go.
“We just didn’t want her death to be in vain. We didn’t want her to be another statistic.“
Charlene died just a day before 37-year-old Allison Holthoff died at the Cumberland Regional Health Care Centre emergency department.
Earlier this week, Gunter Holthoff told reporters his wife waited for seven hours in excruciating pain at the Amherst hospital before she died. Her story shook the province and prompted one health advocate to warn the health-care system is in a “dire situation.”
It also prompted the Nova Scotia NDP to call on the province to conduct an inquiry into deaths in Nova Scotia’s emergency rooms, after receiving data showing there were 558 emergency room deaths recorded in 2022.
Snow said she had reached out to the Holthoff family, “to let them know that we get it and we understand and we experienced the same thing as they did.”
Her website will serve as a place where stories like theirs can have a home and be heard.
“I’m going to use the skills that I have to try to facilitate some kind of change in the health-care system,” she said.
It’s not just for families who have experienced tragedies, but also health-care workers who want to be heard.
“I hear you and I will give your story a home. I will give it a place to live,” Snow said. “They don’t have to give me their name… I just want this site to paint a clear picture of what’s happening in health care — on both sides of the fence.”
On Wednesday, she took to Facebook to call out for people’s stories, saying “We were robbed and it’s time that we are offered significantly better options for emergency care.”
The post got more than 320 comments and 1,600 shares, but it didn’t stop there.
“I was quite overwhelmed yesterday. My Facebook inbox was full, my email inbox was full, I received texts.” Snow said.
While it may take some time to organize people’s stories for the website, Snow said she hopes it’s seen by the province’s health officials.
“I hope that by reading actual stories that they will start to understand, and forge a path for change.”
If you have a similar experience from emergency rooms in Canada, we want to hear your story. Please reach out using the form below, and you may hear back from us.
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