A shocking story that unfolded in the emergency room at CHUS Fleurimont in Sherbrooke on Friday forced authorities to apologize to a patient who was forced to lie on the floor because he was feeling so ill.
• Also read: Shortage of doctors: more flexibility in approving foreign doctors
There was no stretcher available on Friday for Bernard Proulx, who has leukemia.
The man was taken to the emergency room for trouble breathing, eventually being diagnosed with pneumonia.
After about five hours of waiting, the patient feels weak and asks to be allowed to continue waiting on a stretcher. The staff is said to have told him that no stretcher was available.
Exhausted, the sixty-year-old resigns himself to lying on the waiting room floor without a blanket.
“We wouldn’t even treat a dog like that,” denounces her sister Georgette. I was really scared that he would die like that, lying on the floor in a totally unworthy manner.
Lying on the floor after a few minutes, Mr Proulx vomited and was treated immediately.
“We understand that the emergency was crowded and we were willing to wait, but is it possible to wait in decent conditions?” asks Georgette Proulx.
The spokeswoman for the CIUSSS de l’Estrie – CHUS, Annie-Andrée Émond, admitted on Monday morning that this event should never have happened: “We understand very well that it was a difficult situation. to live, we recognize this is unacceptable and we apologize to the patient and his family.
Annie-Andrée Émond | VAT News