Re: H1N1-related death in Guelph
H1N1 victim had big dreams
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<!-- ########################################################### -->November 06, 2009
<!-- AUTHOR 1 -->Greg Layson
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GUELPH ? Nicholas Henry Klassen aspired to be prime minister of Canada.
But he never got that chance.
At the age of 23, Klassen died in his sleep in the early hours of Oct. 27. He succumbed to complications from the onset of the H1N1 virus, said Dr. Nicola Mercer, medical officer of health for Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health.
Klassen is the first person in the Guelph area to die of the virus.
Klassen, who was born in North Bay, was a social science graduate of the University of Ottawa. He had recently moved to Edmonton to be with his girlfriend, Paige Atkinson, and his twin brother, Richard. He was in Guelph visiting his mother, Susan Klassen.
?He was a wonderful and caring individual,? Susan said Friday in a phone interview. ?He had a lot of promise. He wanted to be the next prime minister of Canada.?
Klassen?s younger sister, Erin, wrote his obituary for the North Bay Nugget. She described him as ?warm hearted, intelligent, unfailingly considerate and widely admired for his sincerity and charm.?
Klassen developed a cough Oct. 23. The following day, his fever spiked at 104.6 F. He and his mother went to Guelph General Hospital?s emergency room.
Susan Klassen said her son had to complete several medical and information forms because he was in the process of changing from Ontario to Alberta health-care coverage. She said her son was then seen by a triage nurse and his temperature had receded to 39.5 C, roughly 103 F.
?We should be at home and not spreading germs around ? that was the general attitude we received at the Guelph General,? Susan Klassen said.
?They basically said that the fever wasn?t high enough (for him) to even be there.?
After waiting more than an hour without seeing a doctor, Klassen insisted he and his mom return home. They left the hospital ?sometime before midnight.?
?He was regarded as low priority. Things weren?t moving and he was tired. He just wanted to go home,? Susan Klassen said.
Guelph General Hospital?s chief executive Richard Ernst said Friday hospital records show Klassen?s wait time ?was very brief.?
Ernst said Klassen was triaged, registered and called in to be seen by a health-care provider all within 17 minutes.
?Absolutely not,? Susan Klassen said. ?We sat right by the nurses? station and we were never called.
?We then told someone we were leaving. I even asked if there were exit papers we needed to sign.?
Nicholas Klassen was scheduled to return home to Edmonton the next day, but his mother decided he was too ill to travel and rescheduled his flight.
She said his condition neither worsened nor improved after the trip to the emergency room.
?I considered going back to the hospital but he was somewhat reluctant to do that,? Susan Klassen said.
She said she heard her son moving around at about midnight on Oct. 27.
But when she went to check on him at 6:30 a.m., he was dead.
?I rescheduled his flight from Sunday so I could take care of him,? Susan Klassen said between sobs. ?You just assume someone?s going to get better from something like this, like they have every time before. But this time, he just didn?t get better.?
Klassen was what doctors would consider obese, his mom said.
According to the Ministry of Health, serious obesity is considered a chronic condition. That would have put Klassen in a high priority group for the H1N1 vaccination.
Susan Klassen felt Guelph General Hospital?s emergency room staff wasn?t aware that her son?s obesity put him at a higher risk of illness and death from the H1N1 virus.
?I do think the more information people have will be of help,? Susan Klassen said. ?I would like to see the front-line people at the hospital more knowledgeable about risk factors.?
According to the Ministry of Health, there are 11 underlying chronic conditions ? including heart disease, asthma and diabetes ? which elevate the risk of complications due to H1N1.
?Any risk is taken into consideration,? said Eileen Bain, Guelph General?s vice-president of patient services. ?I can?t speak to that specific case because I don?t know who was ahead of him. We see the most critical patients first. If they?re growing sicker while they wait, they?re encouraged to let the nurse know.?
Bain said Guelph General Hospital?s protocol is to have a registered nurse assess patients, including a respiratory evaluation. After the initial assessment, the nurse assigns the patient a triage level.
?We have been seeing very, very high number of patients with flu symptoms,? Bain said. ?They?re triaged and seen as anyone would be.?
The hospital has opened a flu assessment centre on Delhi Street.
?That?s an ideal place for patients to present their symptoms,? Bain said.
?If people are unwell and not getting better, they need to come to emergency.?
Susan Klassen said Nicholas had not been vaccinated against H1N1, but his twin brother, Richard, has been.
?I have no thoughts on whether people should be vaccinated,? she said.
?That?s everyone?s personal choice.?
http://news.guelphmercury.com/News/Local/article/558368
