An octogenarian who fell to the ground suffered for four hours while waiting for paramedics to finally come to her aid in Gatineau on Monday.
“That’s not how you treat old people. Especially an 86 year old! said Manon St-Onge, the elder’s daughter-in-law, in an interview with TVA Nouvelles.
It all started when Rosina Ménard Jean lost her balance and fell badly on Monday morning while emptying the dishwasher in her small apartment in a retirement home.
At around 9:30 a.m., a longtime friend, worried about not hearing from her, found her lying on the floor, unable to get up.
The latter quickly notified officials at the RPA where they live – Château Symmes – who in turn alerted the emergency services.
For the next four hours and until her arrival, Ms Ménard Jean remained face down on the kitchen floor.
prayers of despair
She says she dislocated a hip, fractured a wrist and injured her foot in the fall.
Photo Agency QMI, Marc DesRosiers
Photographed Tuesday at her Gatineau home, Rosina Ménard Jean’s left wrist has turned a purple hue since her fall.
“My hand turned purple and I tell you that I prayed to baby Jesus. I didn’t want to die,” the octogenarian said in an interview with Le Journal the day after his setbacks.
Back in her apartment since Tuesday, she blames the malfunctioning of the health system rather than the paramedics.
“You can see that they need help with the ambulances. [Les paramédics] do their best but it doesn’t make sense as there is work and they need other people. I sympathize with this world,” the convalescent elder continued.
Ms Ménard Jean also commends those who took care of them – when they finally arrived.
unacceptable
The situation is still “unacceptable”, according to his son Yvon Jean.
Screenshot, TVA Nouvelles
Yvon Jean, son
“Quebec will have to wake up, we have to do something for the health system in Outaouais, it’s gotten serious,” criticized the man hit by TVA Nouvelles.
Hal Newman, former paramedic and creator of The Last Ambulance Facebook page, can see this from the testimonies he receives every day.
“These are the same problems as everywhere in Quebec. In the last few weeks we have seen that the system [de soins préhospitaliers] breaks down,” he said.
In his opinion, the recurring problems include a blatant shortage of staff, overcrowded emergency rooms and a lack of prevention.
victim of the system
And that an eighty-year-old suffers from it breaks her heart.
“Something is broken in the system if we are willing to let an elder hang around for four hours. If it had been my mother, I would have liked an ambulance to arrive in less than 30 minutes,” he testified
Mr. Newman, who has over 40 years of experience.
The Outaouais Paramedics Cooperative did not respond to the journal’s interview request on Tuesday.
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