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My brother has been in Brandon Regional/ Assiniboine Centre for the last 3 months. Today he was to be transferred by ambulance to Concordia in Winnipeg for surgery/skin graft. This was set up a week ago. We had dealt with nurse, etc. at Concordia. Ambulance transport was scheduled to pick him up between 9:00/9:30 am as he was to be there by 12 noon and the surgery was scheduled for 2 pm. I am the sister and I went in to make sure he had everything he needed to go with him. We waited and waited and no one came. I questioned the staff and they had no idea what was happening. They tried to contact people but no answers. In the end I called ambulance services and they wanted to know where I got there number. I wanted to know why they had not shown up. The person who answered the phone said she did not like my attitude aka did not want to deal with me because she did not have any answers. I said I want to talk to the supervisor she transferred me to someone else who kindly did transfer me to a supervisor. She did not have any answer either and said she would let the hospital know when she found out. Good Luck with that one. Needlessly to say my brother did not get to Winnipeg, did not get his surgery, has had nothing to eat since last night and could not have all the pills. Because of his condition there was a lot of prep that had to be done by the staff at the Assiniboine Centre. If anyone out there knows who to go to so that no one else has to go through this, let me know. By the way in the bay at the hospital there was one patient transport and one ambulance.

That’s a rough one and there won’t be any “ good” answers to what happened. Lack of staffing is high on the list. Next is there needs to be a better transport system for pts that are stable but can’t travel sitting upright. Using a handi-bus could help but they still need staff to travel with them. It’s worse with bed utilization. I hope he can go soon or if they would allow someone else to transport him.

You’re mad at the wrong people. This has nothing to do with the ambulance service.  
 
Ambulances in Manitoba can’t just ‘not show up’. They are dispatched by a separate agency and told where to go.  
 
If there is an appointment and the patient didn’t go, it would be because hospital staff rescheduled it or it was pushed for a higher priority and they didn’t notify you.  
 
Nurses and doctors are doing what they can. Our healthcare system is broken. People are burnt out and there is not enough staff which cause issues like this.

The ambulance service was booked a week ago. If it was booked you would expect them to show up. So I do not believe I am mad at the wrong people. The hospital staff were wondering where it was and were phoning. It was booked for 9 am so it was not the Assiniboine staff that screwed up and my brother was laying in bed waiting to go and get it over with.

I feel for everyone who goes through these horrible health care issues. We are worse than some Third World countries, which in my opinion is unacceptable. When there is a problem anywhere, someone has be held accountable for it. Who is it?? And who’s going to fix it?

Furthermore more than just an thought. Maybe it is time to stop talking about it, and take real action ourselves, and go out into the streets and protest to the government is huge mass gatherings in every city in the country. Maybe somebody will finally listen then and take action. I’m pretty sure they’ll be some people out there who can organize it.

Are you forgetting the ambulance is an EMERGENCY service?  
 
Ambulances are dispatched by a separate organization. They go where they are sent based on priority and availability. Paramedics or ambulance staff do not schedule or make these decisions. So yes you are getting upset at people who have no control over the situation.

Somebody somewhere has to have an answer. If an ambulance was scheduled and then canceled for any reason SOMEBODY???? should have notified the hospital and let them know. SOMEBODY???dropped the ball.

Is it possible the patient transfer paperwork was sent in but lost or not correctly filled out. Was the transfer just put in for or was there verification of confirmation as well. Are paramedics are excellent in Brandon but are understaffed. I suspect there was a clerical error between the hospital and the ambulance dispatch at some point.

Have you not seen the ambulance that say PATIENT TRANSFER? I guess not.

Tell me you know nothing..  
 
There is only a certain amount of ambulances and paramedics to run them. Their first priority is emergent care. They are dispatched to where they are needed most. Quit complaining about things you know nothing about.

There is no such thing as an ambulance simply for “patient transfers”. Emergencies come first

I’m really sorry to read about this, I can only imagine what the patient and family must be going through. Because of the nature of the medical system and requirements around privacy and public communication it’s very possible that this won’t be a medium that a person can expect the level of depth that would lead to full understanding and solutions.  
 
Hoping for answers and constructive solutions. Is Patient Relations an avenue that could be pursued?  
https://prairiemountainhealth.ca/contact-us/patient-relation-faqs/

That Brandon does keep one ambulance dedicated to patient transfer?  
 
In any case, who do you blame for the ambulance not showing up? The hospital staff-sounds like they had no idea why it was a no show. If they cancelled it, they would have known. I doubt the driver just said hey, let's not bother with this trip to Winnipeg, I don't feel like going! So, I wouldn't blame.e the crew. So, who does that leave? Possibly dispatch, who for some reason sent them to pick up another patient somewhere?  
 
Sorry to say, getting angry does not help-as you learned, an angry phone call just makes someone unwilling to help you. Someone somewhere knows why that ambulance went somewhere else instead, but you have not found anyone willing to discuss it with you yet.

From talking with the mom of the boy that got airlifted to Winnipeg a couple months ago (family of 7), as they were waiting for the air transfer to confirm with them, the times did change, hospital staff has basically no idea when the aircraft would get there. They kept checking in but the time was not consistent.. after a while with everyone getting antsy, they found out the helicopter was already flown out up north for getting someone already prior, and it was taking longer than expected… so they would have had to wait for that transfer no matter how long that other patient took - hospital staff had no pull. However given the nature of the boy, they ended up calling in the next shift early to come fly out with a plane…  
 
Point being, there was a break in the system. It sadly does happen. It may have been as simple as someone in an emergency needing that rig, and a phone call made to OP was lost in the hustle and bustle. No idea. Shouldn’t happen, but unfortunately, as disappointing as it is, emergency crews are struggling, and personally, as long as OP is stable, you’ll get bumped for someone who is not, sad. But true…. But OP you should definitely been notified and rescheduled if that was the reason.

You and other people have not heard of Patient Transfer Services?????  
It is not an emergency ambulance. Look it up they do transfers for hospitals, dental, cancer and more. The vehicles are white with green signage.  
Unfortunately it’s always comes down to paperwork errors or computer. Then it doesn’t help when healthcare staff don’t keep everyone updated more consistently. I’ve seen staff write information, instructions up to four times in different places so it doesn’t get missed when the worker doing it is gone off days.

It is a patient transport vehicle. Green and White  
 
Jeez people  
 
OP - Please complain to PMH patient relations

Not only are we short of doctors, nurses and paramedics, but also understaffed at the ambulance dispatch center. A friends son works there and apparently they are chronically understaffed, sometimes only 2 or 3 people to handle transfers and emergency calls for the entire province (except Winnipeg)

I have contacted "Patient Relations" to see if I can get any answers from them. He is now waiting to see if he can now get another appointment.

Good new. He was taken to Winnipeg by handivan at 2:30 am Friday morning and was operated on around 7:30 am. Back in Brandon by 2:30 pm. Tired but hopefully on the mend.