Dear Editor,
On the morning of Jan. 5, I was suffering from severe, excruciating back pain and could not even get myself dressed and to the hospital.
Finally, at around 3:30 p.m., paralyzed with pain and still unable to walk, I phoned the BC Ambulance Services, who immediately responded and got me to Richmond Hospital.
At approximately, 4:15 p.m., BC Ambulance handed me over to the emergency admissions department at Richmond Hospital. I was put in a transport cart, not a wheelchair, and left in a corner in the waiting room for five hours, paralyzed with pain. I couldn’t even get the cart to the front counter to see why I was being kept waiting.
I am aware that triage in medical terms is a process of deciding which patients should be treated first, based on how sick or seriously injured they are. Were there patients sicker or more seriously injured than myself when I arrived? I am not sure. I only saw one man who appeared to be in bad shape. Other people were walking into admissions and were seen within an hour or so.
Meanwhile, during the five-hour ordeal, I had not eaten due to the pain, had no water, could not call out to any nurse as I was in the corner. Most people in the waiting room were not English-speaking and could not understand what I was trying to say.
After two hours, my friend phoned my cell and realized I was still waiting. My friend then phoned the nurses three times between 6 and 8 p.m. My sister from Quesnel phoned twice. One of the nurses said to my friend, “So many people are calling for this patient.” My friend responded that, “He’s been dumped in a corner and hasn’t been able to get to anyone for the past four hours — that’s why we’re phoning. He’s in excruciating pain and arrived by ambulance.”
Another nurse hung up on my friend twice. Finally, my friend let the phone ring until it was picked up and said, “Please do not hang up on me.” The nurse said she was going to check with the triage nurse to see how much longer the wait would be, but she never returned with an answer.
Finally, at 9 p.m., five hours and five phone calls later, the nurse came and called out my name. She turned around and said, ”are you coming?”
I told her I couldn’t walk and my chair was not a wheelchair. Eventually, four nurses lifted me to a bed.
Does triaging and a busy emergency department justify this kind of delay after arriving by ambulance in excruciating pain?
This is a totally unacceptable service. The doctors apologized, but I am not sure they knew what caused the five-hour wait.
I would like to know if policies have changed regarding triaging when people arrive by ambulance.
I phoned patient services and requested an investigation.
Hopefully, I will get a response to explain who failed to provide due care and why I was forced to wait five hours in excruciating pain.
I hope that no other person will ever have this type of experience at Richmond Hospital’s emergency department after arriving by ambulance.
T. Richard Jordsvar
Richmond
