Posted on 01/13/2023 11:38:24 AM PST by nickcarraway
Another Nova Scotia family is speaking out about the death of a loved one following a lengthy wait at an emergency department -- and they’ve created a website where others can share their own stories.
Katherine Snow says her mother-in-law, Charlene Snow, died suddenly at home on Dec. 30, 2022, after she waited seven hours in the ER at the Cape Breton Regional Hospital.
“I’m mad. I’m angry,” says Snow, who lives in Donkin, N.S.
“She should be here.”
Snow says her 67-year-old mother-in-law had jaw pain and flu-like symptoms. She was triaged, but eventually gave up after being told she likely wouldn’t see a doctor until the next morning.
Frustrated, Charlene returned home. Snow says her heart stopped less than an hour later.
“A sudden death like that is hard enough,” Snow told CTV News.
“It is so shocking, and it happened in the house, so there was family there, but when you add an extra layer on top of that, that maybe it could have been prevented, it just really compounds the grief and takes it to another level.”
Snow posted her family’s experience on social media and says she was overwhelmed by the feedback, with hundreds of stories pouring in from people who had similar stories to share.
In response, Snow and her family have launched a website dedicated to housing stories of patients and health-care workers affected by Nova Scotia’s health-care crisis.
“I want to paint a clear picture, so that by some chance, somebody high up at Nova Scotia Health might have a look and read these stories and understand it from a human level,” explains Snow.
Snow and her family say they don’t blame the nurses or doctors for what happened, but they do feel the province’s health-care system is broken.
Meanwhile, Nova Scotia Health Minister Michelle Thompson says Nova Scotia Health conducted an initial review of the incident, and a formal investigation is now underway 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,” said Thompson in an emailed statement to CTV News.
The case comes after news of another Nova Scotia woman dying following a lengthy wait in an ER at a hospital, which made national headlines this week.
Allison Holthoff arrived at the Cumberland Regional Health Centre in Amherst, N.S., before noon on New Year’s Eve. Her husband said she was in extreme pain, even screaming that she was dying at times, but she waited hours to see a doctor.
By the time she was taken into a room and had a CT scan -- which showed internal bleeding -- it was too late, said her husband.
Roughly 12 hours after she arrived at the hospital, the 37-year-old mother of three was dead.
Nova Scotia Health is conducting an investigation in that case as well.
Canada’s Supreme Court already addressed this issue seventeen years ago:
“Access to a waiting list is not access to health care,” the court said in its ruling.
I’ve read that women can have seemingly unrelated symptoms for heart attacks such as pain in the jaw or back.
Women’s jaws are sometimes related to heart attacks in men.
At least her health care was free!
A friend of mine lost his daughter shortly after delivery also because of negligence. He talked to a lawyer but the most they think he would get is maybe $15,000 for pain and suffering. And much less after legal fees. There is just no accountability in a government run system.
If the heart attack were that bad, she would have died in the hospital, too, unless she had maybe been given immediate treatment.
“Free”
They just had a statistic about how much better the results are if you are in a hospital.
I was under the impression that those were classic heart attack symptoms.
The ER Doc - Mohammed Mohammed al Jabari - was quoted saying “ I don’t care that this non-believer had to wait. I was on my prayer break.”
They know who is responsible. Actionable information. Hypothetically, that is.
Sorry, Ukraine is ahead of Canadian Citizens in the Nova Scotia health care Que.
I am sorry.
First they make it free. Than they deny service. Tale
as old as time.
In a market economy consumers have power. Not in a commie one.
Disgusting in a first world country. Socialism kills. 🤬
A friend of mine had once commented to me about how their hospital are was so much superior to ours. Oh, well...he told me some other things as well. We don’t discuss those things any more.
A cardiac issue? Does one really have to ask the question?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.