又一名加拿大女子在医院急诊室等7个小时死亡
2023年01月13日 加国无忧 51.CA作者：谈海
Nova Scotia刚刚被媒体报道一个年轻女子在急诊室等候7小时后死亡的悲剧，又一名Nova Scotia省女子在急诊室等了7个小时后求医无望离开，不幸很快就去世了。死者的家属震惊、愤怒，站出来呼吁改变该省
医疗保健系统，不要让死者白白死去。
来自Cape Breton的Port Caledonia的Katherine Snow 说，她的家人在婆婆去世后感到愤怒。她要为死去的婆婆做这件事，为想念奶奶的女儿做这件事。
Snow说，婆婆Charlene于2022年12月30日下午因下巴剧烈疼痛和流感样症状前往Cape Breton地区医院。
Snow说，婆婆去医院前已经卧病在床好几天了，她听说过去几周医院人满为患，她不想忍受等待的时间。
尽管如此，她实在无法忍受疼痛还是在那个星期五去了医院。
Snow说，我们一直与她保持联系，因为她一个人在急诊室里。我丈夫提出要进来和她坐在一起，但她说急诊室里已经坐满了，没有地方可以坐下来陪伴她。
Snow说，这位67岁的女子等了7小时后最终放弃，并打电话给她的丈夫Freddie开车载她回家。
但她实在太不舒服了，她决定第二天早上去当地的门诊碰碰运气。
遗憾的是她没能熬到第二天早上。离开医院后仅一个小时，她的心跳就停止了。
在过去的12天里，Charlene的家人经历了几个阶段的悲痛。他们震惊，然后是悲伤，之后是生气。
在新斯科舍省卫生部的一封电子邮件声明中，卫生厅长表示听到Charlene去世的消息深感悲痛。在这个困难时期，我希望向家人表示诚挚的思念和哀悼。
Snow说，她的家人与患者权益保护部门进行了交谈，要求对当晚发生的事情进行审查。就在接受Global News采访之前，她收到了医院急诊室医生的一张便条，称他们正在调查此事。
Snow说，我们只想知道发生了什么，这对我们来说太突然了。
卫生厅长在发给Global News的电子邮件中证实，Nova Scotia Health在得知此事后立即进行了初步审查。调查结果将在完成后与家人分享，并将根据调查的建议采取行动。
厅长说，我知道医疗系统一段时间以来一直承受着巨大的压力，包括急诊室的等待时间。我想让新斯科舍人知道我们致力于得到答案。尽管有压力，我还是敦促新斯科舍人：请在需要时继续寻求医疗服务。
当天晚些时候，省长Tim Houston发电子邮件声明：我向家人表示衷心的哀悼。这对他们、他们的朋友和布雷顿角社区来说都是一个可怕的损失。
我了解新斯科舍省卫生厅已开始调查以确定发生了什么，并将与家人分享结果。
我知道我们急诊室的等待时间令人担忧。我可以向您保证，我们正在探索各种方法，以改善患者在最需要时通过我们的系统获得护理的机会。我们将继续向公众通报我们的进展。
周四早上，Snow推出了一个名为 Nova Scotia Healthcare Crisis 的网站，她希望该网站能鼓励有类似经历的新斯科舍人分享他们的故事。
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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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