I am proud to be Canadian. I think I live in the best country in the world. However, I would like to relate an experience that I recently had that causes me great concern. Last week, I came down with a major kidney infection. I tried to ignore it for 3 days, drank lots of water, and hoped it would just “go away.” I was wrong. Last Tuesday, (a week ago today) I had to call an Ambulance, since the infection had gotten completely out of control, and was spreading through my system. In Canada, we have nationalized health care, something which Americans are debating at this very moment.
If I were an American, I would be VERY concerned about implementing this policy. Here’s my story of the horror of Canadian Nationalized Health Care:
I placed a call to 911 requesting an Ambulance at approximately 7:45 AM. The Ambulance arrived at my home within 5 minutes. As I was talking to the 911 operator, I could hear the siren approaching. The Paramedics assessed me, made sure that it was not life threatening (I knew it wasn’t). Since I could not walk, and was in terrible pain, I was placed in a carrying chair. My apartment happens to be on the second floor of an awkward building with no elevator, and I am a bigger guy, so they thought it would be wise to get back-up to help negotiate the stairs. Back-up arrived within 10 minutes. (Again, this was not life threatening). I was promptly loaded into the Ambulance, and arrived at the Hospital ER by no later than 8:15 AM.
Upon arrival at the Hospital, I was immediately assessed by nursing staff and within 5 minutes of that assessment seen by the ER doctor. He quickly prescribed IV antibiotics, and admitted me to the Hospital, where I would stay and be treated for 48 hours. Within an hour of being brought into the ER, I was assessed, treatment was begun, and I was admitted to the Hospital. In fact, the longest anything took during this time was finding a vein in my arm so that the IV antibiotics could be administered.
You may be tempted to say, “Well, you were lucky.” In fact, I have had numerous medical issues related to spinal cord damage over the years, and have a disabled child (ironically, now in the States), and have never had a problem getting the treatment needed. Granted, no system is perfect, and yes, tragedies do happen. But those happen even under the best of circumstances, unfortunately. The fact is, millions of Canadians enjoy medicare that may never be able to afford coverage otherwise. The majority of us have had no major problems in acquiring the services we need to get world class treatment.
Filed under: British Columbia, Canada, Medicine | Tagged: Canada, Government, Health Care
