Rocky-area man’s death highlights need for cardiac services in Red Deer

“It was just a waiting game to get him to a cath lab, because that was the next step in the protocol,” Lillian pointed out. “Unfortunately, with the [poor] weather, it seemed to not to be in our favour to get going.”

The snow falling that night meant there was no air medical service, including STARS, available that night. Poor driving conditions meant driving to Calgary, because Red Deer Regional Hospital has no cardiac catheterization lab, would’ve been risky.

Specialists recommended Grant stay put in Rocky until his condition worsened to the point where a decision was made about 90 minutes later to drive him by ambulance to Calgary.

He didn’t survive the trip. Grant went into cardiac arrest and died at Sundre.

“We will never know whether getting Grant to a cath lab made the difference between him being here today or not,” said Lillian. “But I’m fairly certain we would’ve made it in ample time to a cath lab in Red Deer to at least have had that opportunity.”

Lillian isn’t the only one frustrated by her husband’s death.

Dr. Dolen Kirstein is the physician who cared for Grant the night he passed away. He says had Red Deer been properly equipped Grant’s outcome may indeed have been different.

“Cardiac catheterization is deliverable in central Alberta but it does require the support of the government to initiate and to fund that treatment in Red Deer,” he implored. “The numbers are there, the statistics have been supported, there have been several cases where we know patients would have likely had better outcomes, and that includes Mr. Hay.”

Cardiac catheterization is a procedure in which specialists insert a long tube into a patient’s artery and can eliminate deadly blockages.

Dr. Kirstein says central Albertans must continue sounding the alarm over the lack of services that is putting lives at risk.

“There’s no reason that somebody in central Alberta should have a longer transport time to get to a centre such as Calgary or Edmonton for some of these procedures that are cost-neutral and can be funded in central Alberta.

“Mr. Hay really wasn’t afforded the opportunity to access a cardiac catheterization lab, and I think it has to be made clear that was the only medical procedure that might have saved his life.”

Dr. Kym Jim, one of the physicians leading the call for improved cardiac services in Red Deer, says they continue to wait for an AHS report on cardiac services in the province – a report that was expected earlier this year but is now scheduled for release early next month.

“We anxiously await the report to see whether or not those concerns and ideas were heard,” Jim noted.

“It’s always been the opinion of the physicians here in Red Deer that cardiac catheterization has its merit in central Alberta and areas outside of Edmonton and Calgary because of our higher rates of cardiac death after MI (heart attack).

“We’ve always argued that cardiac cath is a) needed because of the higher mortality rates, b) that it is deliverable based on safety profiles that show we have enough patients to be doing this procedure here, and c) services are being expanded in Edmonton and Calgary. So why wouldn’t you spend the money where the patients are, which is in central Alberta.”

Meantime, Lillian hopes coming forward with her family’s story will help bring important change.

“It’s just a struggle every day to keep going without him,” she lamented. “We hope that by coming forward with our story that maybe another family won’t be in our shoes wondering if things could’ve been different.”

Red Deer Regional Hospital serves over 400,000 central Albertans.

Statistics show central Albertans are twice as likely to suffer a heart attack as someone living in Calgary (326 per 100,000 people compared to 182).

by Sheldon Spackman and Troy Gillard

Rocky-area man’s death highlights need for cardiac services in Red Deer

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