Teen's 'nightmare' hospital wait a symptom of Alberta's health-care breakdown, doctors warn
CBC
A teenage girl's agonizing wait to have her perforated appendix removed highlights the crisis that's unfolding in Alberta hospitals and putting patient safety at risk, front-line health-care providers are warning.
"It was an unbelievable and terrifying experience," recalled Sonia Furstenau, who was visiting Edmonton from B.C. with her family in late August when her 15-year-old suddenly became ill.
Furstenau, who is the Green Party leader in B.C., took her daughter, Eleanor, to the ER at Edmonton's Royal Alexandra hospital at 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 17.
She was armed with a letter from a doctor at a nearby walk-in clinic who sent them, suspecting appendicitis.
But, with the hospital overwhelmed, they waited 90 minutes before even seeing a triage nurse. Eleanor moved from the waiting room to an ER bed around 9 p.m. but wasn't sent for tests and officially diagnosed with acute appendicitis until the next morning.
"The nightmare sort of got worse at this point," Furstenau said.
After waiting through the night, she was told Eleanor needed to go to the Stollery Children's Hospital for surgery, and that a surgeon was expecting them.
"There were no ambulances available. So they told us to drive her there ourselves."
At the Stollery, they waited again.
According to Furstenau, after meeting with a doctor to discuss the surgery, they were sent back into the ER waiting room, where Eleanor sat in a chair without being monitored and without any pain medication.
"Her fever was really high. Her heart rate was over 140. She was in agony," Furstenau said, noting her daughter was moved to the pre-op area at 5:45 p.m.
Finally, at 11:45 p.m. — more than 29 hours after first going to the ER — Eleanor was wheeled in for her emergency surgery.
A nearby whiteboard indicated the procedure was 428 minutes behind schedule, Furstenau said.
In the operating room, doctors discovered Eleanor's appendix was perforated and gangrenous, a potentially life-threatening condition.
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