Second Alberta Woman Miscarries

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Second Alta. woman miscarries after ER wait Article Tools

Emma Poole, CanWest News Service; Calgary Herald. Published: Tuesday, October 03, 2006

CALGARY - An Alberta woman has come forward complaining she began miscarrying in a packed Calgary emergency waiting room just one month after health officials said sweeping changes to the system would prevent a similar case.

Erin Wilson, 26, of Strathmore, Alta., says she spent six hours in the emergency room at Peter Lougheed Hospital Wednesday waiting to see a doctor after experiencing severe cramping and bleeding.

Wilson, who was between nine and 10 weeks pregnant with her first child, said she repeatedly begged a nurses for help, only to be told she had to wait.

Even after she had been given an emergency room bed, Wilson said she had to wait another three-and-a-half hours to see a doctor.

In the meantime, not a single nurse checked on her condition, she said.

''I could hear the nurses outside the curtain talking about who was dating who,'' she said. ''I would hear what nurse wouldn't date this cop and what nurse wouldn't date that cop.''

She later miscarried Friday morning at a different hospital.

A Calgary Health Region spokesman said he couldn't comment on Wilson's case due to confidentiality laws. James Finstad did, however, said several recommendations proposed by the region following a similar case in July, were being implemented.

The recommendations include placing staff in emergency waiting room areas to observe patients more closely and assist triage staff, training nurses in ''effective communications skills'' for triage and launch a review of how to treat patients experiencing a miscarriage.

In late July, a woman suffered a miscarriage at the same hospital emergency room waiting room in front of 40 people.

Rose Lundy, 34, said blood pooled around her feet and tissue fell to the floor as she waited in a chair for medical attention at Peter Lougheed Hospital.

Lundy's husband, Rick, repeatedly begged triage nurses to help his wife as her bleeding intensified during their three-hour wait. He was told there were no available beds.

Calgary Health Region representatives later conceded they'd ''dropped the ball'' and ''lost the human touch'' when Lundy miscarried.

The case set off a firestorm of criticism about Lundy's medical care, while shining the spotlight on Calgary's overstressed health system.

Provincial opposition parties blamed the government for poor planning that has allowed a space crunch to worsen in Calgary hospitals, while a former city alderman renewed calls for an independent body to review medical mishaps.

epoole@theherald.canwest.com

Calgary Herald

© CanWest News Service 2006

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And we wonder why people go insane and start shooting or going on some sort of rampage. Sometimes a lawsuit just doesn't seem like justice enough.