Dept. of Socialized Medicine, or "So THAT'S Why They Want to Register All Firearms!"

This one comes from two different sources, plus I heard about it on the radio today, so I have to assume that it's not an urban legend. I'll let you read both versions for yourself:

Woman died at B.C. hospital as relative told to call 911

By ROBERT MATAS
Monday, September 6, 2004 - Page A4 Globe And Mail

VANCOUVER -- The family of a 22-year old woman who died at a British Columbia hospital threatened legal action yesterday in an attempt to show that emergency-room staff failed to properly respond when an uncle rushed in, frantically asking for help.

Single mother Jessica Peace was in the back seat of the car when Jim Roberts pulled into the emergency driveway of Peace Arch Hospital in White Rock, outside Vancouver, two weeks ago. She had stopped breathing moments before.

Mr. Roberts asked for help. Hospital staff called 911 for paramedics to bring Ms. Peace into the hospital. "I believe if I had gotten help immediately when I pulled up, she would still be alive," he said yesterday.

The hospital's response has reignited a fierce debate over the institution's reaction to people who go to the emergency department requiring assistance to get out of a car and into the hospital.

Ms. Peace's death came 16 months after an 88-year-old man died of cardiac arrest outside a residence care facility next to the hospital, fuelling suspicion the institution has a policy of calling 911, rather than responding immediately to those in need.

Hospital representatives adamantly denied having a policy to call for an ambulance to bring people from the driveway or parking lot to the emergency ward.

However, Mr. Roberts said yesterday hospital officials were not giving an accurate portrayal of what happened when he pulled up. He may go to court, if necessary, to put on the record exactly what took place, he said.

"What is really bothering me is the blatant lies."

Mr. Roberts recalled driving to the hospital with his niece about 4 p.m. on Aug 25. Ms. Peace was a drug addict who was trying to break her habit. They were talking in the car, but then at a red light close to the hospital she stopped talking. It looked like she was not breathing.

He rushed into the emergency room, saying his niece had stopped breathing and that he needed help immediately. He said he was told to phone an ambulance. When he suggested that was not appropriate, ER staff dialled the number and gave him the phone.

A paramedic from the hospital came out to assist only after he returned to the car and stood there, shouting: "Help, she's not breathing," Mr. Roberts said. They rushed Ms. Peace into the hospital but were unsuccessful in reviving her.

David Plug, a spokesman for the Fraser Health Authority, which runs the hospital, said hospital staff would normally help if they were not busy with emergency patients.

"There is no policy that bars them from going out," he said. "It happens all the time at hospitals. People come and say, 'I have someone in the parking lot' and the hospital responds if it can."

Hospital staff said they did not hear Mr. Roberts say his niece was having breathing problems, Mr. Plug said. They only heard him ask for assistance to bring someone inside.

When they overheard Mr. Roberts tell 911 about the breathing problems, a nurse went to check out the problem. The nurse then called for a paramedic to come with a stretcher to bring Ms. Peace into the hospital, Mr. Plug said.

"Emergency did not know the situation outside when they asked him to call 911," Mr. Plug said. "When they found out, they reacted in a timely fashion."

Apparently not.

Mr. Roberts insisted that no one came out until he started shouting in the parking lot. He did not see a nurse outside.

The hospital did whatever could be done once his niece was taken indoors, he added. He was not upset with the hospital until staff starting offering a different version of events.

Unless they acknowledge what they did, he will look into court action to bring the truth out, Mr. Roberts said.

That's the first version, all emphasis is mine. Here's the second:

Hospital didn't help ill people enter facility

CTV.ca News Staff

A B.C. family believes their daughter died because of hospital bureaucracy.

Two weeks ago, Jessica Peace -- a mother of one -- had a drug reaction, stopped breathing and died in hospital.

Her uncle, Jim Roberts, took her to the Peace Arch hospital in White Rock -- but not into the hospital. And he thinks she'd still be alive if not for the delay in getting her emergency care.

"I honestly don't know why I didn't carry her in, but I thought when you went to a hospital they helped you," he said.

Don't be silly! You're just a number to them!

When he arrived at the hospital, he left her in the car, ran inside and begged for help.
"'My niece is in the car. She's not breathing. I need help,'" was his recollection. "She says, 'I'm sorry sir, you'll have to call an ambulance.'"

Roberts was handed a phone and the desk clerk dialed 9-1-1. "I said, 'that's crazy.' She said, 'that's our policy, sir.'"

The Peace Arch hospital insists it's not a policy, but that having paramedics to assist is necessary sometimes. "Removing somebody from an automobile and putting them on a stretcher, you need at least two people to do that," said Don Bower of the Fraser Health Authority.

And the hospital employs... How many?

The hospital said a nurse eventually did go out and give Jessica CPR while she was still in the car.

Well Whoop-de-fucking-doo!

It agrees Roberts shouldn't have had to call for an ambulance himself and it is investigating the matter -- the second such investigation in just over a year.

In May 2003, an 88-year-old man died of cardiac arrest just outside the hospital's doors. Even the RCMP complained it took to long to get the victim help.

"It can't go on like this. More people are going to die," Roberts said, adding, "it's not the first time something like this has happened."

Lisa Trewern can vouch for that, saying, "the same thing happened to me when I took my mom to the hospital on April 3."

She said her mother had severe abdominal pains. While her mother survived, Trewern said she now regrets not having formally reported the matter: "They weren't willing to help me until I got through the doors."

It's apparently not part of their labor contract?

Jessica Peace's family is considering legal action while they take care of her son.

I would certainly hope so.

Were it my daughter, I believe I'd be considering redecorating that emergency room.

Oh, yeah. Public health care. Just as good as public toilets.