Separating sick Inuit kids and parents is medical colonialism all over again

[Judi Lynn]

In Quebec, air ambulances continue the incomprehensible practice of separating children and parents – despite no written policy demanding it

Samir Shaheen-Hussain
Thu 17 May 2018 06.00 EDT

It was a relatively quiet summertime shift in the emergency room at Montreal children’s hospital when the child – an Inuk preschooler – was rushed in on a stretcher. He had been airlifted in from a remote community after a motor vehicle accident, and he was entirely alone. Suddenly he began to cry. We couldn’t speak his language, and couldn’t find a hospital interpreter. Had he developed a sudden headache? Should we rush him to the CT scanner?

While trying to figure out how to proceed, we found someone who spoke Inuktitut, and learned the heartbreaking reason the child was crying: he missed his mother, who had to stay behind, more than 1,500km away.

The practice disproportionately affects Inuit families. Kids in communities in Nunavik, the northern third of Quebec, already suffer from higher incidences of traumatic injuries and respiratory infections; healthcare resources are limited. As a result, Nunavik’s population requires proportionally more medevac (medical air evacuation) services than any other region in the province.

For years, Quebec authorities have justified this draconian policy based on patient safety, ethics and logistics – including the possibility of receiving another call to pick up another critically ill patient during the air-ambulance flight.

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/commentisfree/2018/may/17/separating-sick-inuit-kids-from-their-parents-is-medical-colonialism-all-over-again

[SunSeeker]

1. WTF? That is medical malpractice--and cruel! Those poor kids!

[Hortensis]

2. Sad. Same KIND of people supporting both policies,

driven by bad conservatives, but our wanton evil tops your callous version easily anyway. Our atrocities are specifically intended TO terrify children and parents. It's going to cost a lot more money, and the traumatized children won't begin to be as well off as with their parents. Expect ultimately some bad stories.