After parking my car at the corner of Henry Avenue and Resthaven Drive in Sidney on Aug. 19, I walked a few feet and I was extremely dizzy and very short of breath, feeling like I would lose consciousness at any moment. I called 911 at 12:57 p.m.
I gave the dispatcher my location and symptoms including my age and name. After being on the phone for nine minutes, the dispatcher informed me that an ambulance would be on the way and that she had to end the call. In the meantime, I laid down on the ground so I would not fall. A gathering of concerned people was giving me support.
At 1:28 p.m. I called 911 again telling the dispatcher who I was, and that an ambulance had not arrived. He abruptly told me that there were no ambulances available and that I would just have to wait, giving me no alternatives. I was lying in the grass and it had started to rain. He couldn’t help me, so I ended the call feeling devastated that no assistance was coming and I knew something was terribly wrong with me.
The dispatcher called back at 1:32 p.m. He suggested that I arrange my own transportation to the Saanich Peninsula Hospital. I again ended the call feeling extremely fearful and unsupported. We were undecided whether to wait for an unknown length of time or risk driving me as I was on the verge of unconsciousness.
Fortunately, the people gathered around me spotted an ambulance, flagged it down and pleaded with the EMTs to help me. Although they were not the ambulance dispatched to my location, they realized I needed immediate assistance. They sped me to the Saanich Peninsula Hospital Emergency where I was given a CT scan which showed a large saddle pulmonary embolism. I was transferred to the Royal Jubilee Hospital for treatment.
Once I was in the hands of the ambulance and both hospitals, my care was exemplary. I am receiving ongoing treatment for this very serious condition.
The dispatcher’s responses were inadequate, inappropriate and non-supportive. The other options that they could have considered were to call either the police or the fire department to render first-aid, to assess the situation, and to provide support until an ambulance arrived. Additionally, at no time did the dispatcher ask to speak to the bystanders to help them support me or to gain greater clarity of the severity of the situation.
If he did not assess my call as the highest priority, then he assessed it incorrectly.
Because of my recent experience, I ask the following: Is the training or qualifications for 911 dispatchers such that expert care is given from the moment of the call? Does a 911 dispatcher require licensing or given any psychological training to carry out this extremely important position as a first responder? Knowing that emergency situations vary greatly in the required response, is there a protocol to be followed depending on the circumstances? Are 911 dispatchers compensated appropriately to attract qualified and capable personnel?
I sent this letter to the Patient Care Quality Office in the hope that this issue will be investigated and that no one else will ever be put in my position.
Sandra J. Earle
Sidney
