B.C. woman takes cab to hospital after lengthy ambulance delay – BC

A Saanichton, B.C., lady is elevating the alarm after taking a taxi to the hospital attributable to lengthy delays within the ambulance dispatch system on Vancouver Island.

Erin Sales space was doing her groceries in Sidney on Oct. 10 round 7 p.m., when she immediately felt “intense stress” in her head and a lack of listening to that prompted her to name 911.

“Pretty shortly, I had the switchboard operator come on and ask, ‘Police, hearth, ambulance?’” she informed International Information.

“I stated ‘ambulance,’ at which level he knowledgeable me, ‘There’s a really lengthy wait tonight, are you positive you want an ambulance?”

With out one other transport possibility, Sales space stated sure. She stated the operator was unable to estimate the wait time, however promised to remain on the road together with her whereas she waited.

He didn’t, and after about 5 minutes of listening to a pre-recorded message, Sales space opted to take a taxi.

A B.C. Emergency Well being Providers (BCEHS) dispatcher referred to as her practically two hours later, she added, asking if she nonetheless wanted an ambulance. At that time, she had an IV in her arm in preparation for medical checks.

1:40
B.C. lady claims 911 points result in extreme blood loss for grandson

In a written assertion, BCEHS urged Sales space’s 911 name was “deserted.”

It had an “deserted” E-Comm 911 name in its system, initially time-stamped at 7:01 p.m. within the space Sales space had referred to as from, it stated, and the decision was coded as yellow — “non-urgent.”

BCEHS logged the decision at 8:29 p.m., and “referred to as affected person again at 8:39 pm and left a message; referred to as once more and was knowledgeable affected person already on the hospital.”

“If a 911 name is ever dropped or deserted, BCEHS call-takers try and name the caller again to make sure everyone seems to be OK, or an ambulance continues to be required,” stated the assertion.

Sales space stated she’s not glad with the service’s accountability.

“By way of this complete complete course of, I used to be by no means linked to B.C. ambulance. I believe that’s the important thing factor right here,” she stated.

“It wasn’t as if I used to be on the cellphone with an ambulance dispatcher strolling me by way of my medical scenario. It was only a prerecorded (message) — ‘You’ve reached B.C. ambulance, please don’t hold up.’”

Sales space stated she’s sharing her story not solely to carry BCEHS to account, but additionally to warn others to have a backup plan within the occasion they should name an ambulance.

This month, British Columbians reported quite a few delays accessing 911 companies, with the province’s largest dispatcher, E-Comm, publicly urging callers to not hold up in the event that they hear a pre-recorded message.

E-Comm has beforehand stated the irregular wait occasions have been the results of delays in connecting their operators with ambulance dispatchers.

BCEHS stated it’s “at present not experiencing the delays that occurred over the previous week and into the lengthy weekend.”

2:09
E-Comm posted warning on social media Thursday of great delays in 911-calls

“Interim Chief Ambulance Officer Leanne Heppell is actively working with dispatch leaders to make sure our dispatch centres are in a position to meet durations of excessive demand,” reads its assertion.

“Measures taken thus far embody elevated medical help in dispatch centres to assist triage and handle calls and 24/7 supervisor help in dispatch to assist with delays and escalation.”

BCEHS, the assertion provides, can also be hiring 30 new dispatch positions between now and December, so as to add to the 25 dispatchers it employed lately, who’re at present in coaching.

Sales space stated BCEHS ought to publish ambulance wait occasions so decision-makers and the general public can decide whether or not the system is working for them.

“To me, an hour and 45-minute wait to be linked to an ambulance dispatcher — which means you don’t have the service, the service isn’t there,” she stated.

BCEHS stated its common name quantity is between 1,400 and 1,500 calls per day, however within the week main as much as the lengthy weekend, name quantity averaged greater than 2,000 calls per day.

The service is encouraging sufferers in steady situation to search out different transport to hospitals to keep away from tying up paramedics, and asking anybody with a non-urgent medical name to dial 811, not 911.