ORNGE says air transport for critical patients in northern Ontario is still too long but getting better
CBC
Representatives of the province’s air ambulance operation, ORNGE, said that it’s still impossible to meet the provincial ministry of health’s timelines for transportation of critically ill patients in the north, although response times have improved since 2021.
Chief Operating Officer Wade Durham and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Bruce Sawadsky testified at the inquest into the deaths of five members of Constance Lake First Nation during an outbreak of a fungal lung disease in 2021.
Two people, 43 year-old Luke Moore and 56 year-old Lizzie Sutherland died at the Notre Dame hospital in Hearst while waiting for flights to better-equipped hospitals.
Their cause of death was blastomycosis.
Sawadsky explained that the most critically ill patients, described as having a life or limb threatening condition, are supposed to be picked up and taken to their destination within four hours, and cannot be refused care, according to the province’s policy.
He said, however, that is impossible in northern Ontario because of the vast distances.
Sawadsky said in reality, in 2021, at the time of the outbreak, the median time to get an air ambulance to a critically ill patient in the north, to a town such as Hearst, was five hours, but that has since improved to just under four.
That does not, he said, include the time to then get the patient to their destination and receiving higher levels of care.
However, weather conditions also can wreak havoc on getting to patients, as the witnesses described in the case of 43 year-old Luke Moore.
Late in the afternoon of Nov. 18. 2021, doctors said Moore was critically ill at the Hearst hospital in Hearst and needing the fastest response that ORNGE could muster to airlift him to Health Sciences North (HSN) in Sudbury.
However, it didn’t take long for the pilot of the plane at the nearest base in Timmins to say it wasn’t possible to land at the Hearst airport.
The reasons given were snow on the runway, high cross-winds and lack of de-icing equipment at the Hearst airport.
ORNGE COO Wade Durham said even if the runway had been clear and there was de-icing equipment available, the crosswinds would have prevented the plane from landing.
As well, a helicopter in Sudbury couldn't fly in because of poor visibility and helicopters generally don’t fly through clouds in winter because they pick up ice.
Montreal officials will hold a ceremony to mark the 36th anniversary of the Polytechnique massacre today.
The City of Regina's proposal to build a roadway through the McKell Wascana Conservation Park should be discarded, local conservationists say.
A holiday event that began in 2020 during the pandemic with three floats on pickup trucks has now become one of Kelowna’s big winter events, drawing thousands to the city’s downtown core.
WARNING: This story details allegations of child abuse.
It’s been hard to keep track of how many legal challenges and active court proceedings the United Conservative government has tried to quash or pre-emptively block in the last six weeks, but let’s try to tally:
Margaret Walker, the emcee of a Waterloo vigil commemorating the victims of the Montreal massacre, doesn't feel enough is being done to reflect on the killings and address gender-based violence.
The P.E.I. Humane Society says it is doing far more fundraising than it used to, and rising expenses — including the cost of animal medications — are a big reason why.
Ottawa is staring down a court-ordered deadline to submit a new plan to reform the on-reserve child welfare system, as a group of First Nations leaders and children’s advocates prepare a competing proposal.
An underpass revitalization project that was meant to pay tribute to the people of Parkdale has instead deteriorated into “a garbage dump,” according to nearby residents.
A young man has been charged with criminal negligence causing bodily harm after a fire at a frat party near Western University that injured five sorority sisters, including two seriously, late Tuesday night.
The massive deal to combine one of Hollywood's oldest studios with a streaming giant hasn't even been approved yet, but it's already riling multiple related industries and politicians concerned about monopolies and media concentration.
Mi'kmaq chiefs and a former Nova Scotia justice minister are criticizing the provincial government for directing police to crack down on illegal cannabis, saying the order undermines relations with Indigenous Peoples.
For years, there has been “glaring inequity” in the way the province has allocated the millions of dollars in its county roads budget, according to Department of Transportation Minister Chuck Chiasson.