SYDNEY MINES, N.S. — Having a stroke this summer gave MLA Fred Tilley new insights into emergency room wait times and a health-care system struggling to keep up with demand.
Tilley was told the information was being faxed to the ER in Sydney as he was showing all the signs of a stroke.At triage, they noted that 811 had said it was faxing its assessment over.“We stood up for the first bit, there was nowhere to be seated,” Tilley said.Finally after seven hours, Tilley was in the back of the ER hooked up to an IV and monitors, where he remained most of the next day before being sent to the stroke unit.“And the level of care was great,” he said.
He added that he did not want special treatment but is convinced seven hours is not an acceptable wait time for any stroke victim, especially with no one checking in on the symptoms. He also said the premier and the health minister could tap him, a co-worker, for insights based on actual experience dealing with the system.Tilley said the doctor told him he should have called 911.
Otherwise, it’s a waste of resources — and those resources could be redeployed to where they are needed, Tilley said.He also said the inadequacy of ER/urgent care services in other Cape Breton communities is compounding the pressure on the Sydney ER. “As a traveller in Halifax, pretty much every week it’s so easy to go through a drive-through and grab something,” said Tilley, who has dropped 20 pounds thanks to healthy eating and exercise.
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