A Montreal woman is looking for answers after her 65-year-old father died while waiting more than 11 hours for an ambulance.
Stephanie Kibrivski’s father, Myron, first called 911 around 5:20 a.m. on May 14.
He told the dispatcher that he had fallen and hit his head a few days earlier. Since then he had a headache and found it difficult to get out of bed.
“I don’t know what’s going on,” Myron Kibrivski is heard saying in French.
The dispatcher told him it could take up to seven hours for paramedics to arrive. He asked him to call back if his symptoms worsened.
Cybriwski called again about 15 minutes later and again two hours after that, but kept waiting.
Around 4:15 p.m., this time, 911 operators dialed the phone trying to reach Cybriwski — but there was no answer.
A message was left asking him to call back to reassess, explaining that there were still significant delays in getting patients.
Myron, 65, called 911 on May 14 because his head hurt after a fall a few days earlier. (Photo courtesy of Stephanie Kibrivski)
When paramedics finally arrived around 4:50, Cybriwski was dead.
It had been over 11 hours since he made the initial call.
Stephanie Kibrivski wonders if the tragedy could have been avoided if it weren’t for the “neglectful” communication from the 911 dispatcher and the overall lack of health care resources.
“There is so much missing information. Why weren’t more questions asked?” Cybriwski said, speaking to CTV News on Friday.
Stephanie Kybrivski is pictured with her father, Myron, who died while waiting for an ambulance in Montreal. (Photo courtesy of Sephanie Cybriwski) “The first phone call, it was so quick to turn it down. He mentions that he recently fell on his face, hit his head, and no follow-up questions. They just ask if he’s bleeding and if he’s had COVID recently.”
“No message ‘do you live alone?’ Is there someone you can call for help?’
A CORONER IS INVESTIGATING
Cybriwski also called on the government to improve emergency response times by providing more resources.
Chantal Comeau, a spokeswoman for Urgences-Sante, declined to comment on the case as it is currently under investigation by the coroner.
However, she mentioned that 19 paramedics have been hired since May, and Urgences-Sante plans to hire 23 more in September.
The goal is to have 100 more paramedics by the end of March.
This isn’t the first time such an incident has been in the spotlight recently: earlier this month, a 91-year-old Montreal woman died while waiting seven hours for an ambulance.
The incident prompted the paramedics union to speak out about poor working conditions.
“They’re just fed up with the whole situation,” union spokesman Luke Beaumont said at the time. “We’re getting just over 1,000 calls a day and we’re short on staff.”
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