Gory account of construction worker’s injury reflects how serious Canada’s healthcare crisis is
A recent visit to the emergency room has left one woman shaken and outraged about the state of Canada’s healthcare system.
In a series of tweets, Jocelyn Burzuik, president at the Manitoba-based Sundance Construction & Safety Consulting Inc., recounts the ordeal with an injured employee needing urgent care.
According to Burzuik, John, their foreman, was working on a personal project after work on February 4 when, at around 5:30 pm, he had a “table saw mishap” that thankfully missed the bone and tendons.
“He was tired and made a mistake,” Burzuik told Daily Hive in an email. “Instead of using the push stick to slide a piece of trim through the table saw, the piece kicked back, and his right hand, specifically the right point finger, caught the blade. Gruesome.”
After doing the initial trauma care, they headed to Selkirk Regional Health, assuming that they were “better equipped to handle it.” She recalled that John was triaged quickly and joined the other ten patients who were already waiting.
She said that while waiting, they saw many people leaving “against the recommendations of the triage staff.”
“John had his blood pressure taken, and it was pretty high both times,” said Burzuik. “The other thing — when the Triage nurse looked at John’s wound, she unwrapped it. And loosely wrapped it back up. I literally had to re-wrap it and apply the proper pressure to it again in the waiting room.”
They were then left to wait for around seven hours.
I really don’t want to hear fuck all about how good CDN healthcare is. After work, one of my guys had a table saw mishap, and it wasn’t pretty. Bone good, missed tendons, but it’s a mess. I did the initial trauma care, but after 7 hrs in the waiting room, it needed to be…
— Sundance Construction (@SundanceConstr1) February 5, 2024
Burzuik recalls following up at 12:30 am to ask how much longer it was going to take as the bandages had already dried and needed to be redone. Frustrated, Burzuik asked the emergency room staff for dressing kits and closures herself.
“[The triage nurse] did not recommend this and did not want to do it. She checked for circulation in the finger; it was good, and he could move it, so the tendons seemed good,” she said.
After talking to the doctor, the nurse returned with the supplies.
“She explained how to use the closures and how to irrigate the wound,” said Burzuik. “I knew all of that already.”
Burzuik said that had she known that the wound would not be “treated as a priority,” she would have just treated it herself.
I never expected to see wounds like this not treated as a priority. If I had known what was in store for us, I would have just did it all here, and get the clotting and closures in place sooner.
It was gruesome and I was scared to be honest. In the end, I just had to get it…
— Sundance Construction (@SundanceConstr1) February 5, 2024
The two then drove back home, where Burzuik said she addressed the wound herself.
“I can handle a lot of stuff, but this one really had me shaking and nauseous. John was nauseous as well and had actually thrown up when it first happened, so I know he was in shock,” she said.
People commended Burzuik for stepping up when the government “absolutely and totally failed.”
This is terrifying, but he was lucky to know you. Most of us I don’t think would have someone so knowledgeable to step in where our governments have so absolutely and totally failed. Good on you, sad times for Canada.
— 🦋 dk-Dubofly-1 🦋 (@dubosaurus) February 5, 2024
Another described the healthcare system as “an utter disgrace.”
God bless you for having the courage & know how. Hope things heal quickly.
Our healthcare is an utter disgrace
— VictoriaL59 (@Victoria59L) February 5, 2024
It’s not just emergency room wait times that have gotten longer. According to a 2023 survey by the Fraser Institute, Canadians had to wait an average of 27.7 weeks between getting a referral from their physician and receiving treatment.
Burzuik said that she’s not blaming the front-line staff for what happened.
“Clearly, there is not enough staff or facilities to handle the incoming number of patients,” she said. “But, we have a problem here when people are being forced into making choices they should not have to regarding care.”
According to Burzuik, John’s back at work and directing people onsite while giving his hand a break.
Unfortunately, since he doesn’t have a family doctor, Burzuik said John will have to return to the emergency room for follow-up care.
For now, she said they’re watching for signs of infection.
“He is pretty tough, to be honest,” she said.
Follow Channels and Categories