An Orillia senior recently endured excruciating pain from a severe gallbladder attack while waiting more than 45 minutes for an ambulance — an experience she describes as unacceptable.
Prior to the attack on Feb. 19, Lillian (McDougall) Cosgrove, 87, was going about her day in the usual way. In the afternoon, she took her dog for a walk, came home, tidied up, and was getting ready for the evening.
“Then all of a sudden, I was in excruciating pain. I called my son, who works in Toronto, and he came. I was screaming like a banshee, like I have never screamed in my entire life. I couldn’t get the pain under control. I was very sick to my stomach and throwing up, so he called emergency,” Cosgrove said.
Cosgrove said that when no ambulance came after 20 minutes, he called 911 again and later called a third time while she remained in extreme pain.
She said the ambulance arrived after 45 minutes and took her to Orillia Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital, where doctors discovered that her gallbladder was full of gangrene. She had emergency surgery the next day.
While she is back at home and has recovered, she remains angry that it took so long for the ambulance to arrive and says the system needs to improve.
“It should never have taken 45 minutes to get to me... There is something lacking in our medical system when they can’t provide the service. I could see 20 minutes, but 45 is way beyond reach,” she said.
Cosgrove wrote letters to the Ministry of Health, Simcoe North MPP Jill Dunlop, and Orillia’s Emergency Services and didn’t hear back from any of them.
Patrick Hervieux, deputy chief of County of Simcoe Paramedic Services (CSPS), looked into her case after being contacted by OrilliaMatters. He said the call was logged at 6:58 p.m. by the Georgian Central Ambulance Communications Centre. CSPS was notified at 7:36, mobilized at 7:36, and arrived at 7:50.
Therefore, the ambulance came 52 minutes after the initial call or just under 15 minutes from when CSPS was called.
“The Georgian Central Ambulance Communications Centre, managed by the Ontario Ministry of Health, uses the Medical Priority Dispatch System (MPDS) to triage calls,” Hervieux told OrilliaMatters in an emailed statement.
“Based on the answers provided by the caller, the patient was categorized as low acuity (non-urgent). While we understand abdominal pain can be distressing, it’s typically not considered life-threatening unless accompanied by other severe symptoms."
“In life-threatening emergencies like heart attacks or choking, paramedics will arrive quickly. For urgent but non-life-threatening cases, there might be delays if crews are responding to more critical calls."
“We know waiting for medical care can be frustrating. Please rest assured that County of Simcoe Paramedics work hard to prioritize urgent emergencies while responding to all calls as quickly as possible.”
In hindsight, Cosgrove said she wished her son had just “dumped” her in the car and driven her to the hospital. She says it would have taken 10 minutes.
On the plus side, Cosgrove said she received excellent care in the hospital, despite it being “overcrowded and underfunded.”
“The staff was amazing. The doctor was amazing," she said. "They had me in for a CAT scan within hours, and the operation was the next day. I can’t say enough about them, but the ambulance service is totally inadequate.”
Cosgrove has been living in Orillia for 25 years and has yet to secure a local family doctor. She has a doctor in Toronto.
“I’ve tried to get a doctor here and have not been successful,” she explained.
Cosgrove lives with the challenges of managing her health without a local doctor. She has allergies, two artificial knees, and is worried about a future emergency.
“What if I’d had a heart attack? Would I have been alive? No. Not after 45 minutes," she remarked.