Today my grandma fell, hit her head and started bleeding. I live in Canada where we supposedly have the luxury of "free healthcare." Unfortunately however, its genuinely horrible. Sure, we don't need to pay for doctor's notes and can just walk into clinics to get a prescription, but what happens when it becomes life or death?
At the ripe age of 79 my grandmother took a hit to the head on concrete in my backyard after enjoying our rare nice weather with the rest of my family. My cousin, a dental assistant, knew all the right things to do in this situation; like don't move the body, check the heart rate (she has heart problems), etc. I on the other hand, ran straight into the house from the pool and called 911 immediately.
My grandma fell at 1:00pm on the dot. I called at 1:01pm and was told to wait outside to flag down ambulance when they arrived. I was already aware of this and had thrown on a sweater overtop my bathing suit as I was to be in public. I was out in the scorching heat for a FUCKING HOUR before paramedics arrived. Barefoot, pacing, panicking, crying, etc. I couldn't imagine what was going on in the backyard as I paced back and forth, pleading for my grandmother's safety. My grandfather was back there watching the love of his life in pain, my mom and her sister distraught by their mom falling and bleeding, my cousin doing all in her power to keep this wonderful woman awake and conscious while also taking care of her own 1 year old.
One hour. My city has 2 ambulances, we hear them every single day on the busy road next to our house. The national time goal is 9 minutes (8 mins 59 secs to be precise). This is of course for the most serious of emergencies, but I would consider an almost 80 year old falling on their head, spurting blood on everything, with a history of heart problems to be pretty damn serious. And yet after an hour at 2:03 they arrive. This ambulance wasn't even from our city, it was from a city that is a 45 minute drive away with no traffic. But today, at rush hour all the traffic seemed to be there. Absolutely fucking insane.
She was taken to a hospital immediately after we all helped her onto the stretcher. Nobody is allowed at the back of ambulances due to COVID protocols which we understand and respect. My grandmother doesn't speak very good English, so we knew either my mom or my aunt would have to go behind the ambulance and meet at the hospital. However, it was recommended by the paramedics that my family wait an hour before going, to ensure all the x-rays were done. So they waited. My mom went at 3:30 to the hospital and found my grandmother in a wheel chair not even admitted yet. She had been in a waiting area for an hour by herself unable to communicate. I'm unsure if there was a nurse or someone able to talk with her and translate, but if not, she had just been waiting and in pain for an hour by herself.
It is currently 6:40pm as I write this and she has yet to be fucking admitted in to the hospital to do her checkups and x-rays.
This is my own story. I'm lucky my grandmother is fine, and is stubborn and strong, but to think that it took so long and continues to take ages for someone old to get help, what cost are we paying for our free healthcare? The possibility that our cities ambulances' time was being taken up by someone who decided to shoot up something and OD'd (this happens a lot) makes me angry. The probability of losing a loved one becomes greater the longer it takes to get the help you need.
My city is growing with more people as the cost of living grows. But our healthcare facilities and healthcare in general fails to keep up with it. Fucked up imo.
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