An Edmonton man is questioning Alberta’s emergency response system after he says he was told to take a taxi to hospital despite suffering severe bleeding from a recent surgery.
Bruce Tuchsen underwent knee replacement surgery on May 11. Last Friday, after returning home from visiting friends, he struck his knee against a nightstand, causing the surgical wound to burst open.
“Tons of blood. It was really horrific. The knee literally exploded,” Tuchsen told Global News on Friday.
His partner called 911 but was told the wait for an ambulance could be six hours, or about one hour for a non-emergent team to assess the injury. The other option offered was to take a taxi.
With heavy bleeding, Tuchsen said they wrapped the wound in towels and took a cab to hospital.
“What would have happened if I bled out in the cab?” he said.
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Once at the emergency department, Tuchsen said he bypassed triage and was seen immediately by a doctor. He underwent surgery the following morning after doctors determined the incision had failed to heal properly, causing pressure to build until it ruptured. He said the injury and blood loss left him in shock.
Tuchsen is now questioning ambulance availability.
“I’d like to know where all the ambulance drivers were. Are we that short? If we’re that short, let’s change that.”
Alberta has used alternative transportation, including taxis, for non-emergent cases since December 2022 in an effort to reduce pressure on ambulance services.
Dr. Raj Sherman, an emergency room physician in Edmonton who has been outspoken about the state of Alberta’s strained health-care system, said situations like Tuchsen’s are emergencies but not uncommon, pointing to overcrowded hospitals.
“As a result, your waiting room’s packed with sick people whose care is delayed, and the whole EMS fleet ends up stuck in emergency, because they can’t just put people on the floor and leave,” Sherman said.
In a statement to Global, ALTA Paramedic Health said alternative transportation is only used when patients are assessed as low acuity, stable and not requiring paramedic care or stretcher transport.
The agency said a shared response system launched in 2023 allows some 911 callers to be redirected to Health Link 811 for assessment and appropriate care pathways.
In the most recent seven-day reporting period, more than 900 low-acuity events were assessed, with many directed to alternative care, including taxis, according to ALTA Paramedic Health said. Of 150 alternative transport outcomes, 65 involved taxi transportation, the agency said.
ALTA Paramedic Health said the approach helps preserve ambulances for higher-acuity, time-sensitive emergencies, and that patients who require ambulance-level care continue to receive it.
Tuchsen said he considers himself fortunate he made it to hospital safely. “I don’t really want to think about that. Because the fact I was losing so much blood … who knows.”
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Curious if this was surgery was completed at a Chartered Surgical Facility?
“The knee literally exploded,”
This is a little hard to believe.
To the far-left commenters on here, the UCP didn’t flood the country with millions of people.
The point of this system is to try and save ambulances for truly serious emergencies. Was this urgent? Yes of course. Does it require and ambulance and immediate intervention from paramedics? No. As a paramedic in this province I can say we would have done nothing different, we would cover the wound, control the bleeding and drive to the hospital. Really not much different than the service he got. Oh and if we are just “ambulance drivers” I guess we can’t treat people anyways. Just a glorified taxi. Paramedics people, it’s not difficult.
Disgusting to see the same year Carney cut healthcare spending coast to coast by 2% 🫣
Another of the endless ‘dump
More unsustainable money into the system’ articles. We have 60 years of undeniable empirical evidence that the system doesn’t work. The answer is getting rid of the government monopoly… not doubling down on it.
Im quite certain that the patient and the author of this article are in no way qualified to triage and decide what an emergency is.
Paramedic money spent on recalls, referendums, etc.
DaniQ
I live in Toronto and I bleeded more almost 1 litre . Called 911 more than 3 time and yet they could not send me an ambulance saying its saturday night and they are too busy with orher emergencies .
He has the resources to get to the hospital, either by cab or from friends. Not feeling much sympathy for him. I agree the UCP has effed things up very badly, not just with healthcare!
Evidently little sense of urgency in political circles. Issues developing over years with no remedies formulated.
There’s only so much money to go around, so perhaps decide what your priorities are before voting. Avoid being distracted by “carrots” dangled in front of you. You have to look at the whole social picture to see what should be done, and that may go against your wants. The bottom line is it will likely require some tax to be paid to remedy the issues.
Norwegians are used to this idea, and their system looks to be quite fair. So perhaps you are able to accept such a reality ?
Disgusting! My husband is terminal and he went by ambulance yesterday and was in a hallway for 24 hours! He is now in a cubicle but still in emergency. Waiting for a bed as there is zero room!
THIS GOVERMENT NEEDS TO BE THROWN IN PRISON FOR LIFE, NO PAROLE
I remember playing sim city and if i had insufficient hospitals, schools, etc, the citizens would literally stop paying taxes and set buildings on fire. Sad that a game has more consequences than real life
What is an “ambulance driver”? Last I heard they should be correctly identified as paramedics.
Pretty horrific story to be sure.
I wonder how much more money in the form of healthcare transfers Alberta is now receiving from the federal government after Justin Trudeau’s open border policy saw over 600,000 newcomers arrive in Alberta.
If he thinks that the Paramedics on an ambulance are just drivers then he deserves taking a taxi. I worked EMS/Fire for over 10 years much more than just drivers.
In fact if it was tons of blood, you would be dead. He got to hospital and sounds like well looked after in timely fashion. All is well and hopefully incision heals this time.
Sounds like he got to the hospital OK without requiring an ambulance that is responding to an actual emergency like a heart attack where immediate medical treatment is required.
this is the fault of all you unwanted people moving to Alberta our system was never designed for a large population
This is the fault of the UCP and Danielle Smith. Restructuring AHS has made matters even worse.
Is Emergency Health Services doing a QAR on this ?