B.C. hospitals over capacity with Swine Flu patients
Hospitals in B.C. at capacity with swine flu surge. Photo Salim Jiwa.
By Salim Jiwa
VANCOUVER, B.C. – B.C.’s major hospitals are overflowing with Swine Flu patients and a number are operating at or over capacity, Vancouverite has learnt.
42 patients in B.C. are on ventilators and intensive care units are under severe pressure at a number of key hospitals.
Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster, Richmond Hospital, Kelowna General Hospital and Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops are operating at capacity, health ministry spokeswoman Michelle Stewart confirmed Sunday morning.
“Generally speaking our Emergency Departments and Intensive Care Units continue to be under significant pressure,” she said.
“Across the province we currently have 42 patients in our Intensive Care Units (ICUS) on ventilators (confirmed and suspected H1N1),” she said in reply to a question submitted to the ministry of health.
“ICUs at major sites in the lower mainland remain busy,” she said.
“Pressure points at Royal Columbian Hospital and Richmond Hospital, both of which are operating overcapacity,” said Steward.
“Interior Health indicates overall improvement in ICU capacity, however Kelowna General Hospital and Royal Inland are at capacity,” she said.
“Emergency Departments remain busy across the province; Northern Health (Prince George) experiencing a significant increase in ED volumes since Nov. 10th. A surge area has been opened to address additional volume,” added Stewart.
Five elective surgeries have been postponed in the Fraser Health Authority and Northern Health Authority areas. Fraser Health Authority serves the largest population base in B.C. with approximately 1.5 million residents.
Among sugeries postponed are two open heart surgeries in Fraser Health and a cataract surgery in Northern Health.
Across Canada, hundreds of people have been admitted to hospital suffering from severe Swine Flu complications. The government of Canada reported over 1,300 admissions between Nov. 1 and Nov. 7.
Hundreds more have been admitted since then.
Copyright 2009, Vancouverite News Service. Use this article on your blog or website for just $5. News organizations pay $25. To reproduce or distribute, click: http://vancouverite.icopyright.com
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learnt?
“Learnt” is the correct form. You can substitute it with the American “learned” if you want. English was invented by the English was it not?
I don’t believe this, I think a hype on H1N1 has been made from officials and it’s not really the scare they are trying to put the fear into all of us!
And you think the media is part of a conspiracy to misinform you? Why don’t you go to one of your nearby hospitals check it out? That would be a solution to your doubts.
BC Ambulance sfaff are on strike or walk out = heaven forbid if you have flue symptoms and are not classified as a emergency. My Mom passed away in June 2009 and she wasn’t important enough to transfer down to a better care facility, according to their job action. Everyone understood the BC Ambulance attendants had a point to make. My Mom’s death meant abosutely nothing to anyone else other than our family – I found that sad when I saw the Merritt BC, Ambulance attendants standing outside the post office handing out phamplets instead of transporting my mother.
We understand that they had a point to make. And we think they are now entering a phase where the public will not understand this attitude during a real health emergency that exists in B.C. We think they can pursue this after the health emergency is over. At this time paramedics are being irresponsible. We are sorry for your loss.
Thanks’ and I know my response was kinda off based to the subject of the hospitals being over capcity with Swine Flue patients. But my Mom’s startup sympthoms were Swine Flue symptoms and she went from being fine to dying quickly. I, myself have the expereince of being infected with a super bug from either the Kamloops or Merritt hospital that almost killed me in 2007 and it’s taken almost all this time for me to recover from picking that bug up. Myself – I’d recommend to everyone I know is to stay as far away from any hospital that you can, especailly when there is a outbreak of any type of bug. Swine flue included …
To go into any hospital, where hundreds of other sicks people go, your more apt to be infected with worse than what you were attending for medical treatment.