ER wait times

Re: ElderlyWait Twice As Long In Emergency, Sept. 15. The Canadian Institute for Health Information report on ER wait times placed a lot of emphasis on the utilization of this nation’s ERs by patients with illnesses that were described as non-urgent. Though unstated, there was nevertheless, an implication that these visits were inappropriate and a burden on the emergency health care system. Nothing could be further from the truth,

Patients who present with comparatively minor illness require little in the way of treatment time or consumption of valuable health care resources. They do not occupy ER stretchers for extended periods of time and do not deny patients in the waiting rooms or in the back of ambulances timely access to the ER. They are not a problem for ER staff and can, in fact, be managed efficiently as witnessed by the reported median treatment times of less than one hour.

The problem patients are those with complex chronic medical problems, who are often elderly. They require extensive investigation and treatment and often require admission. Unfortunately in the current hospital situation there is often not a ward or ICU bed for them to go to, and they are forced to languish in the ER treatment area for hours or even days. Through no fault of their own, it is they who cause ER congestion and prolonged ER waits.

The Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians believes that it is the patient who declares the emergency, not statisticians and not bureaucrats. No one should be discouraged from presenting to an ER for assessment, treatment or even reassurance.