Man, 44, Dies After 8-Hour ER Wait in Edmonton

A 44-year-old man of Indian origin died from suspected cardiac arrest after waiting more than eight hours for treatment in the emergency department of a hospital in Edmonton, Alberta, his family said.

Prashant Sreekumar experienced severe chest pain while at work on December 22. A client drove him to Grey Nuns Community Hospital in southeast Edmonton, where he arrived around 12:20 p.m. Staff triaged him and directed him to the waiting area. His father, Kumar Sreekumar, arrived soon after and found his son in intense distress. "He told me, 'Papa, I cannot bear the pain,'" Kumar recounted. Prashant described the pain as 15 out of 10 to both family members and hospital staff.

Medical personnel conducted an electrocardiogram, or ECG, to assess his heart function. The family said they were informed the results showed nothing significant and were told to continue waiting. Staff provided Prashant with Tylenol for the pain. As the hours passed, nurses periodically checked his blood pressure, which Kumar said rose steadily. "It went up, up, and up. To me, it was through the roof," he said. The last reading his wife, Niharika Sreekumar, reported was 210, well above normal levels.