OP/ED: Out of Left Field: When people's lives are at risk, it's everyone's problem
By Kyra Hoggan
The nightmare scenario: the stretch of highway between Castlegar and Trail, made treacherous by ice accumulation and poor visibility, littered with a half dozen smashed cars and twice that many dead bodies.
Emergency lights strobe across the devastated face of the Castlegar father who was speeding like a maniac and lost control of his car, as he explains to police that he was taking his mother (now dead in the crash) to KBRH with a stroke. “Your tires are bald, your car has no siren or lights, and you have poor eyesight – why on earth would you try to drive her there yourself?” ask the baffled police officers. “Why would you not just call an ambulance?” “Because the paramedics would have been required to take her to Castlegar hospital, and that could be a death sentence,” the man replies, looking out across the massive pile-up that is now the death sentence for so many others, as well. Has this happened? No. Is it plausible? Absolutely. (See http://castlegarsource.com/news/health/castlegar-resident-says-ambulance-protocols-frightening-after-mom-suffers-brain-damage-1 and http://castlegarsource.com/news/living-castlegar-hazardous-your-health ) I now know of at least three families (not counting my own), who will, when faced with an acute care crisis, drive their loved ones to KBRH themselves rather than risk losing precious hours at the hospital-that’s-not-a-hospital in Castlegar. And in doing so, while under extreme duress and without the training or experience or quality vehicles our paramedics promise, put everyone on that highway at risk, too. This is in no way an indictment of the dedicated men and women who work at Castlegar Hospital – it’s not their fault they can’t do CT scans or ultrasounds or many of the other critical diagnostic testing required to be what most of us would consider a legitimate hospital. They should be applauded for their willingness to do grueling work without proper equipment and support. This is the fault of a system that demands ambulances take all patients to the nearest open hospital, then allows sub-standard, ill-equipped facilities to be designated hospitals. The question now is, will IHA wait until something like this nightmare scenario happens before they finally fix what’s broken? I brought this story to their attention in October of last year. They deflected – pointed to BC Ambulance Services (BCAS) protocol as the problem. That’s true, so far as it goes – it’s BCAS policy forcing paramedics to take acute care patients to the nearest hospital, even when the paramedics’ training and best judgment tells them not to. But I’m guessing IHA has some tiny bit of sway with BCAS … in fact, I’m assuming there’s some collaboration and co-operation at work between the two agencies – at least, I’d certainly hope such was the case. IHA could lobby for BCAS to revisit their protocols in light of recent situations. Perhaps allowing trained, intelligent paramedics some tiny bit of leeway is an option. For example, if the patient has a pre-existing condition that can only be treated in Trail, or is clearly suffering neurological symptoms that can only be tested and diagnosed in Trail, how about taking the patient to … wait for it …Trail. It’s common sense. Failing that, IHA could actually provide the resources that would make Castlegar’s facility a real hospital, with all the services a hospital should have to be effective in acute care situations. That’s too costly? Okay, then simply re-name the hospital. Stop designating it such that it has to be a Castlegar paramedic’s first stop. Don’t call it a hospital anymore, if doing so will jeopardize the lives of the people in this city, and in this region. The downside of that solution is the political backlash – people will be furious to learn we no longer have a hospital (even if the only thing to change was the name). Will that be uncomfortable for IHA? Sure. Is preventing that discomfort worth risking both IHA patients and every driver and passenger on the highway between Castlegar and KBRH? I can’t believe I even have to ask the question. It’s ludicrous. The people of this city were up in arms over the potential loss of our ultrasound machine, but remain silent on the issue of ambulance transport, and I just don’t get it. Christine Robertson, the woman whose mother’s illness is related in this week’s Source feature story (see link above), actually pointed out that the Castlegar Hospital closes at 8 p.m., so, “If you have a stroke after 8 p.m., you’re good to go. They’ll take you to Trail. Otherwise ….” I find it inexpressibly horrifying that anyone in Canada could be able to utter that sentence, much less someone from my own community. The mandate of IHA is supposed to include protecting the health of local residents, yet the status quo actively endangers it. Are they really going to wait until the cars pile up – and the bodies with them – before they do anything about it?
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