A man in Vancouver, Canada walked in the emergency department at the Vancouver General Hospital with a headache, sore throat and slight cough. After seeing the triage nurse he was quickly given “non-emergent” status and sent to wait in the waiting room. It was a busy day in the ER with multiple people being brought in by ambulance and two by helicopter.
Peter Mansor, 42, began to doze off in his waiting room chair while watching daytime television on mute and missed when the nurse called his name. “I assumed he was an LWBS,” explains nurse Jacky Herald. “Left without being seen.”
Mr. Mansor was actually still there quietly sleeping in the corner. “When I woke up, I was a little confused at first,” said Mansor. “I looked at my phone and I had slept for over 13 hours. But on the plus side, I woke up feeling fine.”
While the hospital says that no one should have to wait that long in an ER, they stated that they very clearly yelled his name several times with no response from anyone in the waiting room.
In a follow-up appointment with his family doctor, it was determined Mr. Mansor had a “man-cold” and did not need to seek emergency medical attention.
