Brandon man decries icy 40-minute wait for ambulance

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This article was published 13/01/2022 (1530 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BRANDON — A 40-minute wait on icy pavement for an ambulance has left a local man calling for the province to improve emergency services in Brandon.

Joseph Nault, 67, fell in the Real Canadian Superstore parking lot the evening of Jan. 6. Temperatures hovered around -35 C.

“There was a slope of ice there I couldn’t see in the dark. It sloped downward, so when my boots hit that, my feet went out and I went down on my right shoulder and right hip,” Nault said.

As he lay there in pain, waiting more than a half-hour for an ambulance to arrive, his suffering intensified, Nault said this week. The cold seeped into the back of his body, leaving him with water blisters — a step below frostbite — he said.

“Had I gotten into an ambulance in five or 10 minutes, I wouldn’t have experienced much of that or any of that. I would have been in (the) emergency (room) that much sooner. I never got anything for pain that whole time I was laying there,” Nault said.

There were no ambulances available in Brandon at the time of the accident, according to a Shared Health spokesperson. One had to be dispatched from Rivers, 40 kilometres away.

However, according to Shared Health, first responders were on scene within seven minutes of the 911 call and provided care until the ambulance arrived. There were several calls for service at the same time, a situation not uncommon in urban centres, a spokesperson said.

“Calls are prioritized to ensure high acuity and trauma patients continue to receive timely care, with our paramedic fleet strategically positioned to ensure all communities have access to emergency services — even if a local unit is temporarily unavailable.”

Nault’s daughter, Charlene, said fire crews responded to the scene in about five minutes, but they did not have the proper equipment to transport him to the nearby health centre.

“I was so angry that he laid there on the ground in -40 C for 40 minutes, waiting for an ambulance, when he was like eight blocks from the hospital,” she said, noting her father was in a car accident seven years ago that resulted in a metal rod being placed in his back and spinal fusion.

Because of these medical conditions, paramedics could not move Nault without the proper equipment.

His daughter praised Superstore employees for trying to help; staff provided blankets to keep Nault warm while he waited.

Nault said he ended up being transported to Brandon Regional Health Centre by the vehicle sent from nearby Rivers.

“It was frustrating,” he said. “I don’t blame the ambulance people, I don’t blame the health care — they’re at the mercy of what they can do. The government is the one who controls all that.”

Nault remained in hospital until he was discharged Tuesday.

“I’m still in a lot of pain and because of the blisters… it’s irritating and itchy. It’s uncomfortable,” he said, adding he is slowly healing but still unable to put much weight on his leg.

Nault said he believes his ordeal was brought on by government cuts and costs, and it has resulted in the Westman region no longer having adequate ambulance services to meet the needs of its citizens.

“It would have been five minutes’ wait time if I would have got an ambulance in Brandon, but it turned into 40-minute wait time because they had to come from outside of Brandon,” he said.

Shared Health is exploring steps to increase EMS capacity, the spokesperson said, and encourages all residents to call 911 if they or someone they know is experiencing a medical emergency.

— Brandon Sun