When Trish Bergal’s 15-year-old son and his entire hockey team were treated at Adventist GlenOaks Hospital after being exposed to a carbon monoxide leak at a Glen Ellyn ice rink on Nov. 7, 2009, she was relieved to discover the hospital’s “no waiting room” emergency department provided exceptional and fast care. A longtime healthcare worker, Bergal was impressed that so many caregivers “rolled up their sleeves and simply got to the task at hand.”
“All staff were extremely responsive and efficient, whether the request was related to assistance to attend to the washroom or to replace an empty oxygen cylinder,” Bergal wrote in a letter to hospital leaders.
In less than three hours, 34 patients, most associated with Bergal’s son’s Canadian team, were admitted, treated and discharged from Adventist GlenOaks Hospital’s Shanahan Emergency and Trauma Center. Bergal has been a registered nurse for 17 years and has served as a senior administrator for the emergency program within Canada’s Winnipeg Health Region for nine years.
Adventist GlenOaks Hospital emergency room leaders activated the department’s internal contingency plan to care for the sudden influx of patients; emergency room employees who were scheduled to end their shifts stayed late and additional employees were called in from home, said Becky Gierling, RN, manager of Adventist GlenOaks Hospital’s emergency department.
“Although it’s our job to care for patients and their families in high-pressure situations, everyone who worked that night went above and beyond expectations to ensure these young players were comfortable and not scared,” Gierling said. “I’m proud of their ability to pull together in stressful times.”
Since 2007, the emergency department has operated under a “no waiting room” concept. Upon arrival, patients are escorted directly to a private treatment room where they are promptly treated. Dr. Joseph Shanahan, medical director of emergency services, is credited with bringing the idea to fruition after seeing a similar design at a hospital in Indiana. In the case of the carbon monoxide leak, all of the players and coaches taken to Adventist GlenOaks Hospital were brought into rooms immediately, and the physicians and staff provided them with high concentrations of oxygen and did blood work to check their carbon monoxide levels.
“There were at least 30 of us in the emergency department and the hospital’s physicians and staff did not miss a beat,” Bergal said. “They were extremely friendly, professional and patient-focused. They even provided us with food and beverages while we waited.”
Twelve clinicians were able to promptly treat 42 patients during that time – the players and coaches in addition to other patients seeking care, Shanahan said. Emergency medicine specialist Dr. Glenn Meade treated most of the patients and stayed at the hospital overnight to work the next day as well.
“Our team did an excellent job of handling the influx of patients and working together to treat them efficiently while still disclosing information openly with patients and their families,” Shanahan said
Brinsley Lewis, chief executive officer of Adventist GlenOaks Hospital, also lauded the team.
“The entire hospital pulled together that evening in a remarkable way,” Lewis said.
“Providing excellent patient care is what we strive for every day at Adventist GlenOaks Hospital.”
For Bergal, the experience is one that her son and his teammates are unlikely to forget.
“Having to visit an emergency department is a stressful experience at the best of times, but certainly more so when you are far away from home,” she said. “The players will ultimately remember this unusual team event for years to come, in part due to the excellent manner by which they were treated.”