Doctors and health care professionals across our listening area say if you have to go to the hospital for a non-COVID-19 emergency, don’t hesitate – GO.

Perth Physician, Dr. Allan Drummond (pictured above) said doctors are noticing that emergency rooms across the country are quieter and when people do come in too often the situation has gotten very bad.

Dr. Allan Drummond, who is also a spokesperson for the Canadian Federation of Emergency Physicians says there’s going to be secondary harm from the pandemic. He says they don’t yet know the extent of the situation, and likely won’t until after the fact when they start to get a sense of the hidden costs of the pandemic.

Drummond reminds us that hospitals have changed the way they deliver health care and delayed things like elective surgeries to open beds for a potential surge of COVID-19 cases.

Dr. Drummond told the Canadian Press, that by making the changes, they are also ensuring everyday health-care emergencies can be treated.

He notes a pandemic doesn’t stop heart attacks, strokes, serious falls and seizures, yet many people who would normally visit a doctor to check what could be serious symptoms are choosing not to seek help.

He is urging the public not to hesitate and to go to the ER when needed. Those are comments that have been echoed in conversations on Lake 88 with Dr. Barry Guppy from the Perth and Smiths Falls District Hospital and Mary Wilson-Trider of the Carleton Place and District Memorial Hospital, and the Almonte General Hospital. 

They note that at all hospital sites precautions are in place to keep COVID-19 patients and others separated.