CRIMINALS JUMP TO THE HEAD OF THE ER QUEUE

Re: MDs reveal ER horror stories, April 28

Who gets priority in hospital emergency rooms? What can be more urgent
than heart attacks, people dying of cancer or a very sick child? Could
the answer be drug overdoses and all their ramifications, or someone
stabbed in a drug deal gone wrong?

A couple of years ago, I waited in an ER for four hours (Abbotsford is
still not too bad). Along came a prisoner with an escort. Guess who
got priority? And I can tell you he didn't look sick to any of us
waiting. I imagine he jumped the line for security purposes, but the
moral of the story is that law-abiding citizens get trumped by the
irresponsible, criminal element in our society. That is a sad state of
affairs. I think the rules of triage need an overhaul.

Louise Fribance

Abbotsford