In reply to your article “Former Councillors claim they were denied care at KBRH,” (Trail Times Jan. 28) as Canadians we pride ourselves as a nation that embraces its citizens despite creed, race, sexual orientation and religion. We stand on a Tier 1 system of education, civil rights, personal and religious freedoms and health. The latter being the reason I am writing to you. Your article sent chills down my spine.
I would like to remind you that in 1999, Prime Minister Jean Chrétien took to action the Social Union Framework Agreement with the goal in mind to provide health care that has “comprehensiveness, universality, portability, public administration and accessibility.”
This was meant to coincide in respect to the Hippocratic oath, written in the 12th Century, which even now, still applies to our modern doctors as they are required to take it before entering into the medical field. It shocks me to realize this Rossland doctor’s lips had passed over “…with regard to healing the sick, I will devise and order for them the best…”
As it was reported, Gord DeRosa was involved in an ATV accident. He was triaged, the nurse in attendance believed, through her profession medical opinion, Mr DeRosa to have a “separated or broken shoulder.” The nurse also believed a collapsed lung may have been present.
Whether or not it was present is not the issue, if a qualified nurse were to tell you that your lung may or may not be collapsed, in the presence of your child (as was DeRosa’s experience), would you be concerned? And how would you deal with that?
This is also to ignore the excruciating pain that accompanies a broken/dislocated shoulder, which DeRosa was also experiencing, untreated for 90 minutes in a quiet Emergency Room.
As I continued to read, to further my terror, I was unable to believe the attending doctor, once they had seen to it that their much needed services were to be withheld, agreed to speak with DeRosa where they confronted him (still with a broken shoulder and still with possible lung collapse) to discuss their political view: On a swimming pool and curling rink.
The Rossland doctor was quoted in your article saying, “I don’t feel that I’m in a good frame of mind…”
I felt a pang in my heart when I read DeRosa defending himself on the issue, discussing his personal decision to withdraw from the council in the hopes he would be granted, perhaps, life saving medical attention.
As it stands, Gord DeRosa had to forfeit his beliefs for the hopes of receiving what is a basic human right we are granted as Canadian citizens.
As I put down the paper, it occurred to me that the statistic for people who have incidents like this but do not report them, or do not have media attention for them, is alarmingly high.
That is called dictatorship. We live in a democracy. I believe DeRosa should have been granted the option to speak with a second attending doctor, as this one is in a position where the option for totalitarianism is in grasp.
I believe when this doctor was heard to say “…I am not in a good frame of mind…” they should have been removed, replaced and assessed, as their potential for irrevocable damage and fatal harm is inevitable.
The name of the doctor should be released and we should carefully review each and every person whom is involved, allowing them to voice their concerns.
Our freedom to speak and share information, which directly affects the public deserves to be discussed thoroughly as I fear, if we do not, we are enabling a ticking time bomb.
I hope that one day, if I require emergency medical attention, I am in the best and most capable hands. Not under the care of a madman who would ignore broken bones and a collapsed lung because of my point of view on a community swimming pool.
Karina SimsBeaver Falls
