– by Trysh Ashby-Rolls –
Canada is ranked last out of 11 developed countries when it comes to hospital emergency rooms, according to a doctor speaking on a CBC-TV medical panel recently. Vulnerable and complex cases – usually elderly patients over age 75 – have to wait longer in emergency situations than other patients, the doctor continued.
Before I tell you about my emergency trip to the ER just before Christmas, let me note that I am two years away from “elderly,” as it is deemed at age 75.
It all started on a flight returning from Bali, where I’d been for a month’s vacation and research trip for a book. Bali is one of thousands of islands that make up Indonesia and takes about 20 to 24 hours, including stopovers, to reach by air. If you are caught short with the runs an hour or two after takeoff – well, bad luck! E.coli (diagnosed later as a strain outside the Dukoral vaccine spectrum) is no respecter of persons or places. Arriving at YVR, high winds prevented a quick flight from Vancouver to Pender Island. It took another day to get home and literally collapse. Unable to keep down even a sip of water, I dialled 911. Things then became a bit of a blur.
“Well aren’t you popular,” my neighbour said as I opened my eyes. “Four strapping, handsome lads all sitting on your bed.” Four front-line chaps from B.C. Ambulance whose personal attributes I was quite unable to appreciate. Dazed, I stared at the one nearest me all bundled up in his uniform and wearing a mask, trying to figure out if he was the same man I often see in the coffee shop wearing shorts and a knitted hat. But they needed answers to their questions before they trundled me outside to the ambulance. “Good luck,” called a neighbour. And we were off to the water taxi, across to Sidney, then down Pat Bay Highway to the Saanich Peninsula Hospital.
The Saan Pen, as the hospital on Mount Newton X Road is affectionately known, serves all Saanich and the Gulf Islands. It has operating rooms that are the most up-to-date on Vancouver Island and is in the process of raising funds for renovations to its Day Surgery Unit. Procedures that once required a week-long stay can now be done the same day. This means less pain, medication, complications and faster recovery. The ER is already five times its original size and serves the community’s needs promptly and efficiently.
Which is where a nurse not much younger than I, with kind blue eyes – yet standing for no nonsense – told me to undress and put on a regulation gown, ties at the back. In short order a special nurse who, coincidentally, had also recently returned from Bali (she didn’t like it much either except for the north shore) set me up with an IV and the first of several bags of solution to rehydrate me. During the night nurses popped in and out, giving me Gravol shots and bringing soothing warm blankets to stop my shivering.
Something else that CBC-TV panellist said, “The best outcome is not being admitted,” was certainly true for me. Next morning my “honorary” daughter and son-in-law sprung me from the ER, with permission, and took me to their Victoria home to recover.
Deep appreciation to Saanich Peninsula Hospital Emergency Room staff and to B.C. Ambulance. You’re top notch.
If you would like to donate to the new Day Surgery Unit Renovation Fundraising Campaign, visit www.sphf.ca or call 250-652-7531.
