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economist suntribune emergency room crisis thursday jan 6 2000 m h fish market tgfi super specials many more instore specials fresh atlantic salmon steaks v 599 lb fresh swordfish steaks 999 lb v alaskan king crablegs 1999 lb v rn a to 5 c t 1 5051 hlchway 7 markham t cjvy i across from markville shopping centre w jviai11 luilk oraa simple pleasure wed jan 12 730 pm 905 p 1424 compliments of betz pools 5688 main st stouffville and aiiu spa guard biolab canada spaguanl family wants story to be told woman dies despite living only minutes away from hospital by jennifer brown staff writer bianca acquaviva smoothes the ruf fles of her white lace dress for the fiveyearold markham girl it is a special reminder of her grandmoth ers skill with a needle and thread she was an excellent seamstress recalled biancas father sam eldest son of corradina acquaviva the vital mother of three and grand mother died seven months ago at the age of 60 when an artery joined to her spleen ruptured to the shock and horror of her fami ly a tragic turn of events saw the 60- yearold woman become a pawn in the crisis that has become torontos emer gency rooms the hospital she was taken to could not admit her it was closed on what has become all too commonly known as ccb critical care bypass her death came as a massive shock to her family who are still at a loss to understand why it took so long to get her to a hospital even though she lives minutes away from toronto east general hospital but on may 31 the scarborough hospital could not accept another critically ill patient after six months the family is still awaiting the coroners report of their mothers death unfortunately the fam ily is not alone in early december a richmond hill doctor said a toronto patient died at york central hospital when a patient was redirected there in the mad crush to find open emergency rooms and with several other deaths across the gta in the last month linked to ambulances racing to find open emer gency rooms the acquavivas are determined their mothers story will be heard sam acquaviva has been lobbying for a full coroners inquest into his mothers death i think the public should know whats happened god forbid you should be in a position to be transferred in an ambulance right now he said recently recalling the hours prior to his mothers death as a recurring night mare toronto east general records show the hospital went on critical care bypass at 834 pm may 31 but the ambulance that arrived at corradina acquavivas home was still instructed to go to the hospital it had taken the ambulance about 90 seconds to get to her home at woodbine and danforth avenues arriving at about 804 pm the family felt secure their mother would receive prompt care because the ambulance station was close to her home the paramedics were instructed to proceed to toronto east general hospital they tried to stabilize her but she was too far gone at first paramedics tried to stabilize the woman in her home then drove to toronto east arriving at 847 pm but the er had closed down 13 minutes before there was no room for another critically ill patient paramedics were ordered to take mrs acquaviva to the wellesley site of st michaels hospital where she died an hour later at 945 pm that evening toronto east general officials say paramedics should not have taken the critically ill woman out of the ambu lance we could not have possibly provid ed the care she required we didnt have the equipment required said monique del medico director of public relations at toronto east general hospital the ambulance should not have come it was unsafe to receive her in emergency her care would have been compromised officials have told the acquavivas their mothers outcome would have been the same regardless but the fami ly refuses to believe that a ruptured splenic artery can cause a person to bleed to death in a number of hours if fluids are not administered as soon as possible acquaviva said er crunch or not hospitals should still have the ability to take patients requiring immediate attention i dont know why they disembarked her said acquaviva reliving the moment with horror she was right in front of the doors once out of the ambulance and physi cally on the ground surely they cannot put her back in the ambulance the ambulance driver was really peeved he expressed his sorrow to us after i really think they were trying to get her in there acquaviva said the ambulance atten dants knew his mothers blood pressure was dropping rapidly they knew something was terribly wrong but they had to put her back in the ambulance and go to wellesley weve been told it took two minutes but unless they took the concord you would never get there in two minutes i said no way thats totally ridiculous while their mother was being trans ferred to the downtown toronto hospi tal her children were trying to deter mine what was happening sam had beeri watching a hockey game when he received the telephone call about his mother he and his broth er arranged to meet at toronto east general we didnt even think it was serious my mother was such a strong individual she was healthy he said but the time lost getting to wellesley hospital took its toll acquaviva believes doctors worked for half an hour trying to save his mother but her heart rate was not at a level they could operate they tried to stabilize her but she was too far gone said acquaviva blood had gone into her abdomen if only they had stabilized her at toronto east she would have lived he said time is of the essence when a per son is drowning in their own blood by bringing their tragedy to the pub lic eye acquaviva hopes others will speak out about on similar situations if anything comes of my mothers death if we can save one or two lives we will be happy said acquaviva thats the reason we have to pursue it if we are going to be mute about it it means nothing if it cost her life at least let this help another person live grartdmat treasures fashions 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