An octogenarian who fell to the ground suffered for four hours while waiting for paramedics to finally come to her aid on Monday in Gatineau.

"That's no way to treat old people. Especially an 86 year old! ” protested Manon St-Onge, the daughter-in-law of the eldest, in an interview on the airwaves of TVA Nouvelles.

It all started when Rosina Ménard Jean lost her balance and took a nasty fall while emptying the dishwasher in her small apartment in a seniors' residence on Monday morning.

Around 9:30 a.m., a longtime friend worried about not hearing from her found her on the ground, unable to get up.

The latter quickly notified the officials of the RPA where they live – Château Symmes – who in turn alerted the emergency services.

For the next four hours and until their arrival, Ms. Ménard Jean remained lying face down on her kitchen floor.

prayers of despair

She says she dislocated a hip, broke a wrist and injured her foot in her fall.

“My hand turned all purple and I tell you I prayed to baby Jesus. I didn't want to die, ”dropped the octogenarian, in an interview with Le Journal the day after his setbacks.

Back in her apartment since Tuesday, she blames the dysfunction of the health system more than the paramedics.

"That's where you see how they need assistance with the ambulances. [The paramedics] are doing their best, but it doesn't make sense how there is work and they need other people. I sympathize with that world,” continued the convalescing eldest.

Mrs. Ménard Jean praises those who took care of her – when they finally arrived.

unacceptable

The situation is nonetheless "unacceptable", according to his son, Yvon Jean.

"Quebec will have to wake up, we have to do something for the health system in the Outaouais, it has become serious", criticized the man met by TVA Nouvelles.

Hal Newman, ex-paramedic and creator of the Facebook page The Last Ambulance, is able to see this from the testimonies he receives day after day.

“These are the same problems as everywhere in Quebec. In the last few weeks, we see that the system [of pre-hospital care] is collapsing,” he said.

According to him, a glaring shortage of manpower, emergency room overcrowding and a lack of prevention are among the recurring problems.

victim of the system

And that an octogenarian suffers as a result breaks her heart.

"There's something broken in the system if you're willing to let an elder hang around for four hours. If it had been my mother, I would have liked an ambulance to arrive in less than 30 minutes,” testified Mr. Newman, who has 40 years of experience.

The Outaouais Paramedics Cooperative did not respond to the Journal's interview request on Tuesday.