Key parts of health triage have begun in Alberta, emergency physician says
CBC
The head of emergency medicine for the Alberta Medical Association says major components of triage have already begun in Alberta.
Dr. Paul Parks said that in recent days some critically ill COVID-19 patients who should be on ventilators are not getting them. That's on top of previously announced mass cancellations of surgeries, along with patient transfers, as doctors balance medical need with available space, he said.
Parks said it has become routine in hospitals in the last two weeks to have some critically ill patients — most of them unvaccinated COVID-19 cases — kept on main wards rather than in intensive care units on ventilators because they don't have the resources.
"We already are in positions in many hospitals across Alberta where the doctors know that it would be best for this patient to be in ICU and be on a ventilator, but we're not providing that option until they absolutely deteriorate to the point of crashing," Parks said Friday in an interview.
"We already are implementing some of these things that are drastic and we wish we never would have.
"People will suffer and will die by this."
However, Alberta Health Services (AHS) spokesperson Kerry Williamson told CBC News that it is not accurate to say emergency triaging has already begun.
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