The Alberta government in western Canada has ordered a review following the death of a 44-year-old man who allegedly waited nearly eight hours in an Edmonton emergency department before receiving care.
Prashanth Sreekumar died earlier this week at the Grey Nuns Community Hospital after experiencing chest pain, prompting calls from family and friends for accountability.
According to family friend Varinder Bhullar, Sreekumar was at his office when the chest pain began and was driven to the hospital by a client.
He says initial checks reportedly showed no abnormalities, but Sreekumar’s blood pressure continued to rise, and he allegedly suffered cardiac arrest shortly after triage.
Bhullar says the sad part is that Sreekumar’s death was completely avoidable.
He adds that people sometimes think such incidents are God’s will, but he believes that in this case, human intervention could have saved him.
Minister for Hospital and Surgical Health Services Matt Jones says Acute Care Alberta and Covenant Health have been directed to jointly investigate the circumstances surrounding his death.
Source: CBC News
