Hospital overcrowding

A 68 year old man died at the Halifax Infirmary recently and his widow is pointing to the death of Jack Webb as as an example of the human cost of overcrowding.

Kim D’Arcy says her husband was stuck in a cold hallway in the E-R for six hours suffering a number of indignities during his last days of life. D’Arcy says he was left with a broken I-V needle dangling from his arm. Just before he died February 1st, she heard a staffer yell not to resuscitate him if he stopped breathing.

Dr. Alan Drummond at the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians says this story shows just how bad the problem of overcrowded emergency rooms is becoming.