Another family is speaking out with a tale of their own about a loved ones visit to the Royal Inland Hospital emergency room Tuesday night.
Lorraine Farrell tells NL News her 88-year-old mother had some kind of cardiac event on Tuesday…she lost consciousness, stopped breathing, and didn’t have a pulse for about 30 seconds.
The former registered nurse called 9-1-1 and her mother was transported to hospital by ambulance, where she was triaged and put in a chair and made to wait for four hours.
“I thought they’d be attending to her. We waited until my mom was so uncomfortable after four hours she couldn’t take it anymore. She was cold and sweaty and on and off faint and sitting in that hard little chair with no padding,” Farrell said. “And when I asked is she on the list? What number is she? How many in front of her? They said we don’t know she’s got to wait, it could be another three hours.”
“Well, my mom by then was so exhausted – another three hours after it had already been four – she just said ‘I’d rather pass at home than die waiting in the ER. Sadly, I see that was the case for somebody else’s poor family.”
Farrell says her mom still has not seen a doctor – and won’t be able to – until Friday.
“I don’t want that to be anybody else but I fear if people aren’t aware of the situation, please stick close to your family and follow through,” Farrell said.
Royal Inland Hospital has been suffering from an acute nursing shortage, especially in the ER where approximately two-thirds of their staff have reportedly quit or transferred out, due to burnout exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Right now, 13 of 17 intensive care unit beds at the hospital are occupied by COVID-19 patients.
An ER physician said last week that RIH is seeing its worst influx of COVID-19 patients “by far” during the pandemic, which is also absorbing staffing resources that would be used elsewhere in the hospital. Between Aug. 6 and Sept. 10 (tomorrow), officials say about 321 surgeries will have been postponed at RIH, with about 1,060 surgeries done between Aug. 6 and Sept. 8.
Health Minister Adrian Dix has acknowledged that there are challenges in the emergency room in Kamloops, but it is unclear if that will lead to more support for frontline staff.
“We’ve invested $1 million to increase staffing levels at Royal Inland Hospital and to address what’s a continuing challenge in the emergency room there. We’ve added resources,” he said. “Kamloops has been a priority over the last number of years, and it continues to be a priority.
“We’re doing what we’ve done, significantly all over the province. The purpose, in some places, in delaying non-urgent surgeries to address some of these issues but I think the message one needs to give to everybody, in this COVID-19 pandemic, is the message to get vaccinated.”
