Key Takeaways:
- According to the provincial chief of emergency medicine, Saskatchewan’s emergency rooms are overcrowded and overwhelmed.
- According to current government data, E.R. visits with COVID-like symptoms are on the rise, up 10.5 percent from the previous week.
- According to Stempien, there is no one-size-fits-all solution, although masking and COVID-aware behaviour can help limit virus propagation and instances.
According to the provincial chief of emergency medicine, Saskatchewan’s emergency facilities are crowded and overburdened.
According to Dr. James Stempien, the circumstance adds another stress level to doctors.
“You can’t reasonably do (it) with the same level of expertise that you could in a well laid-out stretcher when you’re examining someone in the back corridor,” Stempien told Global News.
E.R.s have reverted to pre-pandemic levels, according to Stempien.
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“Because our wards upstairs are full, we cannot transfer admitted patients from the emergency room to the wards upstairs.”
As per the recent government data, the number of E.R. visits for patients with COVID-like symptoms is rising, up 10.5 percent over the previous week.
26 people in Saskatoon were “admitted no bed” at one time on Saturday afternoon.
“They’re supposed to be in one of the wards upstairs, but no beds are available.” So they’ll spend time in the emergency room until a bed becomes available upstairs,” Sempien explained.
To make matters worse, according to Sempien, there are fewer people available to assist.
“We’ve lost a lot of senior nursing personnel over the last six months to a year because many of them have moved on (due to) the constant stress of working in emergency departments, due to COVID and other concerns,” Sempien explained.
Matt Love, a health critic for the Saskatchewan NDP, questioned the health minister this week.
“Will the minister finally accept that our system is broken and help our overworked healthcare professionals today?” Love asked.
“We’ve added ICU capacity, a $21 million investment, and a high acuity level.” Merriman said, “We have our urgent care center, announced just a week and a half ago.”
Stempien says there is no one-size-fits-all solution but that masking and COVID-aware behavior would reduce virus spread and the number of cases.
He also emphasized that E.R.s are always available and ready to assist, even if it is only in the corridor.
“The emergency room is functional 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.” “We always take place for extra patients, no matter who comes in, especially if they’re severely sick,” Stempien explained.
He went on to say that the E.R. team is doing their “very best” to tackle the situation.
“The fact that folks are waiting in the waiting room — that we’re evaluating people in the back hallway demonstrates how hard we’re working on getting people treated and dealing with a situation beyond our control,” Stempien said.
Source: CTV News
