A period of two to three hours for an ambulance

Shanny Hallé

Monday, 12 February, 2018 20:20

UPDATE
Monday, 12 February, 2018 20:20

Look at this article

SHERBROOKE | Sherbrooke that has been announce to a waiting period of two to three hours for an ambulance while his father was sick denounces the evaluation matrix of the priorities of calls.

In the night from Sunday to Monday, the father of Martin Lacroix fell ill. Feverish, the 78 year-old man could not even walk

“The clerk in the emergency services has given him a period of two to three hours of waiting. […] According to their grid, the system has made sure that he was, a little, taken hostage,” said Martin Lacroix, in an interview with TVA News.

Without being able to obtain the assistance of the ambulance quickly, the relatives of the patient have decided to bring him to the hospital in a taxi.

“It is unacceptable these times, not just for us but for the entire population that deserves to serve within these hours,” said Martin Lacroix.

Once arrived at the hospital, the father of Mr. Lacroix has received emergency care. The response has been quick because of his / her medical history.

Priority 7

Calls placed to the 911 in the link with health are transferred to the communication Centre health Estrie. Operators must assess the priority of each call to direct the ambulances.

“We must maintain the vehicles for life-threatening emergencies. Then, when there are non-urgent calls, like the one we raised earlier, and well, it’s true that we must keep a vehicles for emergencies as we wait for the calls that are less urgent,” explained the director of the Center for communication, health Estrie, Luc Lapointe.

A fever or a general feeling of weakness is considered as a call of priority 7. In this same category, we find the earache, the toothache, constipation and even hiccups.

According to Mr. Lapointe, it is impossible to send on-the-field in an ambulance every time a call goes to the central. “It is for this reason that the priorities of call are important, to prioritize and have good sending the ambulance to the right place.”