One mother's story of long wait times in the ER
With a sick baby in her arm, Chelsey Gerrard headed to CHEO’s emergency room by ambulance. Her seven-month-old son, Finn, was having a severe allergic reaction.
“The nurse apologetically said there were 63 patients ahead of us and one doctor until 6 a.m.,” Gerrard said.
She waited nearly 13 hours in the ER.
“It was so sad to see,” said Gerrard as she waited. “So many kids sick, crying, screaming, coughing, and just exhausted parents.”
After her experience, Gerrard wonders if wait times like this are the new reality.
“Eventually they do see everyone, and so we are lucky with that, but it’s hard,” she said. “It’s a scary thought to think if I have to go to the hospital, this is the situation we are facing.”
The province continues to grapple with the unprecedented volume of patients in hospitals caused by viral infections like the flu, RSV and COVID-19.
“We’ve had ongoing stress before COVID and the system isn’t at the capacity that it was, and we’re just getting slammed. Even our children’s hospitals are getting slammed,” said Dr. Atul Kapur, an Ottawa-based emergency physician.
Health officials recommend masking indoors and being vaccinated as preventive measures to assist an already strained health care system.
Eastern Ontario’s Medical Officer of Health Dr. Paul Roumeliotis says this surge could last for the next two to four weeks.
“It will be a few more weeks,” he said. “The quicker we adhere to the public health measures the quicker it will go away.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Orca calf that was trapped in B.C. lagoon for weeks swims free
An orca whale calf that has been stranded in a B.C. lagoon for weeks after her pregnant mother died swam out on her own early Friday morning.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
Trump's lawyers try to discredit testimony of prosecution's first witness in hush money trial
Donald Trump's defence team attacked the credibility Friday of the prosecution's first witness in his hush money case, seeking to discredit testimony detailing a scheme between Trump and a tabloid to bury negative stories to protect the Republican's 2016 presidential campaign.
U.S. flight attendant indicted in attempt to record teen girl in airplane bathroom
An American Airlines flight attendant was indicted Thursday after authorities said he tried to secretly record video of a 14-year-old girl using an airplane bathroom last September.
Powerful tornado tears across Nebraska, weather service warns of 'catastrophic' damage
Devastating tornadoes tore across parts of eastern Nebraska and northeast Texas Friday as a multi-day severe thunderstorm event ramped up in the central United States.