Saanichton mother waited an hour and 40 minutes to hear back from ambulance dispatch
Erin Booth was grocery shopping last Sunday evening in Sidney, when suddenly she felt intense pressure in her head and weakness in her body.
“Over a matter of three seconds, I completely lost hearing,” Booth said. “Everything went silent.”
When she called 911 and requested an ambulance, she was told it would be a long wait. After half an hour waiting for an ambulance dispatcher to take her call, she hung up — because by the she’d already arrived at Saanich Peninsula Hospital by taxi.
Staff at the grocery store helped her call the cab. It was a last resort while she was on hold, but it turned out to be the right call. She didn’t hear back from ambulance dispatch until she was being prepped for a CT scan at the hospital an hour and 40 minutes after her initial call.
“This is completely unacceptable,” said Booth Thursday, recounting the incident and how long it it took for her to connect with ambulance dispatch.
“I’d heard inklings of wait times, but had no idea of the severity.”
Troy Clifford is the head of the union for ambulance paramedics and their dispatchers. He agrees with Booth that it’s clearly a unacceptable wait.
“That just breaks my heart,” said Clifford. “I just can’t imagine her situation that she had to wait that long.”
It’s just the latest story of someone on Vancouver Island waiting too long after calling for an ambulance. In August, 72-year-old Parksville resident Harry Charles Blakey died of a heart attack after waiting half an hour on hold.
The province committed this summer to hiring 30 new dispatchers and additional paramedics across B.C. after criticism of slow responses during the heat dome. That process is underway, and is one Clifford calls a good start, but not enough.
“Nobody should have to wait on hold in their time of emergency,” he said.
There's been an average of approximately 2,000 calls a day in B.C. for ambulances this month — about 500 more per day than usual.
On Tuesday, Health Minister Adrian Dix said the addition of 30 new dispatchers in B.C. should be enough to handle the current call volumes.
“That's a very significant increase in the number of dispatchers and that's going to help significantly,” said DIx.
Clifford disagrees, and says determining how many more are needed is job one.
“I think that’s really our top priority right now: assessing what our needs are, so that we meet those demands.”
After her experience this past weekend, Booth agrees.
“It could be you, tomorrow, that needs to place this call,” she said. “That’s why this is so important.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."
Boeing's financial woes continue, while families of crash victims urge U.S. to prosecute the company
Boeing said Wednesday that it lost US$355 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft manufacturer as it faces increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes and accusations of shoddy work from a growing number of whistleblowers.
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.