The death of a very unstable patient on the tarmac of Val-d’Or airport, due to a lack of a “hospital plane” available to transport him, is “unacceptable”, believes the Minister of Transport, Geneviève Guilbault, who intends to shed “all the light” on this tragedy.
“We send our sincere condolences to the patient’s family. We would like to reassure the population: Quebec’s aeromedical evacuation service is working,” his office said in a written statement on Thursday.
The patient’s death occurred when he was being put on a subcontractor’s plane on January 4 to transport him to a hospital in Montreal, according to two sources familiar with the matter.
However, according to these sources, the aircraft in question was less well equipped than the “hospital planes” of the Government Air Service (SAG), but these were not available to provide transport since it lacked pilots. to ensure the night shift, as confirmed by the Ministry of Transport.
“The case reported The Press is unacceptable and we will shed light on it. Now, we are working to put in place measures to promote the attraction and retention of personnel and renew our air fleet with a view to ensuring the sustainability of its essential services in our regions,” assured Thursday the office of Minister Geneviève Guilbault.
He also recalls that more than 2,500 medical evacuations have been carried out by the SAG since 2022.
PHOTO JEAN-MARIE VILLENEUVE, LE SOLEIL ARCHIVES
Government Air Service hospital planes, in 2018
A plan demanded in Quebec
Among the Liberals, deputies Monsef Derraji and André Fortin, respectively spokespersons for transport and health, deplored Thursday that the revelations of The Press are “another demonstration that with the CAQ, citizens in the regions are not entitled to the same services as in the large centers”.
“Patients dying while waiting to be transported to hospital in Quebec in 2024 is unacceptable. The CAQ government must quickly present an effective plan to ensure the emergency transport of patients in complete safety,” insisted MM. Derraji and Fortin in a joint statement.
The issue also resonated with Québec solidaire, where co-spokesperson Émilise Lessard-Therrien spoke of “a sad reminder that far too little is being done for emergency services in remote regions.”
“We have already been seeing this for a while with emergency rooms closing at night. When we then learn that aeromedical evacuations are problematic, it is extremely worrying,” said Mme Lessard-Therrien, recalling that the mortality rate in Quebec “would be two to five times higher when you suffer a trauma in the region, such as a stroke”.
“Inability” to fulfill its obligations
In his eyes, the central problem is that “geographic inequalities are more and more frequent with regard to our public services”. “We must find lasting solutions to honor the social contract we have given ourselves: to heal our world and save lives,” concluded the solidarity.
“I am appalled to see that what we feared would happen has actually happened,” reacted the Parti Québécois transport spokesperson, Joël Arseneau, describing this tragedy as “avoidable”.
Recalling that the dilapidated state of the SAG planes and the lack of pilots have already been documented in the past, the incident that occurred in Val-d’Or is “very serious, especially since the government is very aware of the situation” . There is “an inability for the State of Quebec to fulfill its obligations regarding the health and safety of people who live in the regions,” he insists.
On “We have an immense territory and therefore the responsibility to ensure the safety of the citizens who live there,” also declared family doctor Mathieu Pelletier.
With Fanny Lévesque, The Press