The holidays mean something different for everyone. For health professionals in Delta Hospital’s Emergency Department, they mean a dramatic rise in patients seeking help for everything from falls and accidents to seasonal flu and heart attacks.
It also means continuing to deliver superb care while adhering to increased infection control measures due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all as the ER starts to see a larger volume of patients with chest pains, abdominal issues and COVID-like symptoms, which backs up the ER even more.
“Delta Hospital’s Emergency Department is fast-paced and challenging at any time, but the COVID-19 pandemic has added a whole new level of pressure,” says Dr. Navdeep Grewal, an emergency room physician at the hospital. "That pressure grows even more during the busy holiday season.”
Having access to excellent emergency care is vital to the Delta community, which has one of the fastest growing senior populations in all of Fraser Health. For Delta's Dennis Walsh, the care received at the ER of his community hospital meant he lived through a massive heart attack.
“The emergency staff at Delta Hospital worked on me for two hours, bringing me back each time my heart stopped. The care was incredible,” Walsh says.
It takes the best people and the best resources to provide such outstanding care, notes Lisa Hoglund, executive director of the Delta Hospital and Community Health Foundation.
“Our team here at Delta Hospital, from physicians to nurses to all other essential staff, work together to ensure our patients' critical needs are met,” Grewal says.
And thanks to the generosity of donors here at home, the hospital has crucial tools to keep residents healthy. This year, for example, donors made it possible to purchase an echo ultrasound to help patients like Dennis. This principal diagnostic tool can identify heart disease and be an important step in saving someone’s life.
The vital equipment will improve the diagnosis and treatment for our growing and aging population, Hoglund says.
One such essential item is a nasolaryngoscope, which allows doctors to check the airway for an obstruction or foreign body and helps with difficult intubations when time is of the essence. Other critical ER equipment includes stretchers, a gynecological examination table, a wound care cart and a specialized children and seniors vein finder.
Time is a crucial factor in emergency medicine, where medical expertise and the right tools are essential to provide the best level of care.
To contribute today to the Delta Hospital and Community Health Foundation's Holiday Wish List, visit dhchfoundation.ca/holidaywishlist.
