Emergencies are overflowing almost everywhere in Quebec

Traffic in Quebec hospitals calmed down somewhat on Saturday compared to the day before, although many emergencies are still overflowing due to the numerous viruses circulating.

I am with my father-in-law who is almost 90 years old. He hasn’t been running for a few daysexplains Jean Poulin, encountered in the morning at the entrance to Hull hospital, in Gatineau.

He coughs a lot and has difficulty breathing. He is in the waiting room, with a blanket over him. I brought him some laundryhe adds, brandishing his bag under his arm.

The nonagenarian arrived in the early morning aboard an ambulance. Several hours later, he still had not been taken care of, deplores Mr. Poulin. In his eyes, people are opting too quickly for the emergency, turning a deaf ear to government instructions to opt for alternative solutions when their health allows them.

My partner had the flu, and now he is in intensive care. You never knowfor her part leaves Diane Trépanier, met a little later by -. Normally, she says, we never travel for the flu. However, given the worrying symptoms, the couple had no other choice.

If she considers herself happy that her husband received good care, it’s not normal for staff to work in conditions like thisshe judges.

By mid-afternoon, the stretcher occupancy rate was 168% at Hull Hospital, like many hospitals in the province. Across Quebec, this rate was 123% on Saturday afternoon. No less than 5,011 people were waiting in the emergency room, including 1,819 who were still waiting to see a doctor.

People “expect a lot”

The Chaudière-Appalaches and Laurentides regions were the most affected with respective occupancy rates of 161% and 158%. The situation is also critical in Laval, where the occupancy rate was close to 150%.

In Montreal, this rate was 130%, an improvement compared to the day before, when it stood at 150%. It should be noted that several establishments exceeded 200% occupancy on Friday, notably the Jewish General Hospital and the Montreal General Hospital.

For its part, Mauricie–Centre-du Québec fared better with a stretcher occupancy rate of 103%.

It’s still very difficult at the moment and people in the waiting rooms are waiting a lot. Many people go home without seeing a doctorsays Gilbert Boucher, president of the Association of Emergency Medicine Specialists of Quebec, in an interview.

On Saturday, the average emergency room wait time in the province was nearly six hours. As for the one spent on a stretcher, it was around 19 hours.

Virus en circulation

It’s still a little less worse than other yearsunderlines Dr. Boucher, who is also an emergency physician at the Montreal Heart Institute. We are going through an extremely normal yearadds Karl Weiss, doctor, microbiologist and infectious disease specialist at the Jewish General Hospital of Montreal. Hospitals were somewhat lucky during the holidays, a time when traffic always spikes.

If flu cases had increased significantly, say three weeks earlier, we would have had many more cases of influenza, with congestion that could have been much worse.

Healthcare staff still have their hands full with the numerous viruses circulating, whether it be the flu, COVID-19 or the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). And family reunions between Christmas and New Year’s Day certainly haven’t slowed down their traffic.

It must also be said that the number of cases of gastroenteritis is particularly high, points out Benoît Barbeau, professor and expert in virology at theUQAMnot counting the beds currently occupied by people waiting for a place in CHSLDin an intermediate resource or in a rehabilitation center.

The experts consulted reiterate the importance of washing hands and avoiding contact in the event of infection by a virus in order to protect the elderly and those experiencing health problems, in particular. They also emphasize the importance of getting vaccinated against the flu in order to limit the risks of ending up in the emergency room.

With information from Félix Pilon and Gabrielle Proulx