In late December 2025, a tragic incident at an Edmonton hospital brought renewed attention to the risks associated with emergency room delays. A 44-year-old father of three, Prashant Sreekumar, died after waiting more than eight hours in an emergency department waiting room, despite repeatedly reporting severe chest pain. According to the family, he described his pain as “15 out of 10,” underwent an electrocardiogram, was told there was nothing significant, and was asked to continue waiting. He collapsed shortly after finally being brought into a treatment area and died from apparent cardiac arrest.
The Sreekumar family has retained Cuming & Gillespie LLP to investigate and pursue a claim against Grey Nuns Community Hospital.
Sadly, this death did not occur in isolation. It occurred against a broader backdrop of physician warnings, staffing shortages, overcrowding, and admitted failures within Alberta’s emergency care system. For families affected by emergency department delays, mis-triage, or missed diagnoses, these events raise critical legal questions about medical negligence, systemic liability, and accountability.
Man Dies of Cardiac Arrest After 8-Hour Wait in Emergency Room
Mr. Sreekumar’s case is deeply troubling. Chest pain is universally recognized as a potentially life-threatening symptom requiring prompt evaluation and monitoring. Emergency medicine standards emphasize timely physician assessment, appropriate escalation of care, and continuous reassessment when symptoms persist or worsen.
In this case, the patient waited more than eight hours after triage without seeing a doctor. During that time, his pain reportedly intensified, his blood pressure rose, and he remained in the waiting room. While an ECG was performed, no meaningful intervention followed. When he was eventually brought into the treatment area, he collapsed within seconds and could not be revived.
Families facing similar circumstances often ask the same questions:
- Was the patient properly triaged?
- Were warning signs overlooked?
- Were delays foreseeable and preventable?
- Did systemic pressures override patient safety?
These are not abstract concerns. They form the foundation of medical malpractice investigations arising from emergency room deaths across Alberta.
An Unprecedented Warning from Alberta Physicians
What makes the current situation especially alarming is not only the frequency of tragic outcomes but the unprecedented nature of physician disclosures themselves. Alberta doctors have reportedly banded together to identify at least six deaths and more than 30 critical “near misses” that have occurred since Mr. Sreekumar’s death, referring to certain facilities as “death zones.”
It is exceedingly rare for physicians to publicly acknowledge systemic failures in such stark terms. When front-line healthcare providers themselves confirm that delays and errors are widespread and leading to preventable harm, it signals a crisis that extends beyond isolated mistakes.
From a legal perspective, this matters. Admissions by healthcare providers that delays and errors are “well known” and ongoing can be powerful evidence when assessing whether harms were foreseeable, preventable, and the result of negligent systems rather than unavoidable circumstances.
What “Near Miss” Really Means for Patients and Families
The term “near miss” may sound reassuring, but in medical reality, it often obscures the true severity of patient harm. A near miss does not mean a patient walked away unscathed. It often means that death was narrowly avoided, sometimes at the cost of catastrophic injury.
Patients involved in emergency department near misses may suffer outcomes such as:
- Severe sepsis leading to multi-organ failure
- Limb ischemia requiring amputation
- Meningitis with permanent neurological impairment
- Cardiac arrest resulting in hypoxic brain injury
- Delayed stroke treatment causing permanent disability
For many families, their loved one is not “fine.” They are in intensive care, facing prolonged rehabilitation, lifelong disability, or an uncertain prognosis. The emotional, financial, and psychological toll can be overwhelming.
From a medical malpractice standpoint, near misses frequently raise the same legal issues as fatal cases: failure to triage appropriately, delayed diagnosis, lack of monitoring, and failure to escalate care when symptoms worsen.
Systemic Emergency Room Delays and Medical Negligence
Medical malpractice law in Alberta recognizes that not every poor outcome constitutes negligence. However, when patient harm arises from unreasonable delays, failures to assess, or departures from accepted standards of care, liability may arise.
Emergency department negligence cases often involve:
- Improper triage classifications
- Excessive wait times for high-risk symptoms
- Failure to reassess patients in waiting rooms
- Missed or misinterpreted diagnostic tests
- Inadequate staffing or supervision
- Failure to respond to deteriorating vital signs
Systemic pressures such as overcrowding or staff shortages do not excuse substandard care. Courts have consistently held that hospitals and healthcare providers owe a duty of care to patients once they present for treatment, even in strained conditions.
Delays Beyond the ER: Risks in Labour and Delivery Units
While recent attention has focused on emergency departments, experience shows that delay-related failures are not confined to ERs alone. Similar systemic issues can arise in other hospital departments, including labour and delivery units.
Delays in performing emergency Caesarean sections (C-sections) are a well-documented cause of preventable newborn injury. When fetal distress is identified, but surgical intervention is delayed due to staffing shortages, operating room availability, or communication breakdowns, the consequences can be devastating.
Prolonged oxygen deprivation during birth can lead to:
- Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy
- Cerebral palsy
- Seizure disorders
- Developmental delays
- Lifelong physical and cognitive disabilities
These outcomes are often preventable with timely intervention. When delays are systemic, known, and recurring, legal accountability becomes essential not only for compensation but also for patient safety.
Legal Standards for Medical Malpractice in Alberta
To succeed in a medical malpractice claim in Alberta, a plaintiff must generally establish:
- A duty of care owed by the healthcare provider
- A breach of the standard of care
- Causation linking the breach to the injury or death
- Compensable damages
Emergency department cases often hinge on whether a reasonably competent physician or hospital, in similar circumstances, would have acted differently. Expert medical evidence plays a critical role in determining whether delays, omissions, or decisions fell below accepted standards.
Importantly, systemic failures do not shield individual providers or institutions from liability. Hospitals may be held accountable for inadequate staffing, unsafe triage systems, or policies that place patients at unreasonable risk.
The Human Cost of Emergency Room Failures
Behind every statistic is a family. In the Edmonton case, three children lost their father. A spouse lost her partner. Parents lost a son. These losses ripple outward, affecting extended families and communities.
Medical malpractice litigation cannot undo what has been lost. But it can provide financial stability, answers, and a measure of accountability. In some cases, it also brings systemic issues into the public record, contributing to broader change.
Families often pursue claims not only for compensation, but to understand how and why a loved one fell through the cracks of a system meant to protect them.
Cuming & Gillespie: Advocating for Families & Patients in ER Medical Malpractice Claims Across Alberta
If you or a loved one experienced serious harm or lost someone after delays, mis-triage, or errors in an Alberta emergency department or hospital, your story matters. Speaking up is how accountability begins. It is how patterns are exposed. And it is how change becomes possible.
Cuming & Gillespie LLP represents patients and families harmed by medical malpractice across Alberta. We encourage those impacted by emergency room delays, preventable injuries, or wrongful death to contact us for a confidential consultation. Our team of medical malpractice lawyers are dedicated to pursuing answers, demanding accountability, and advocating for meaningful improvements to a system that must do better. Contact us online or call (403) 571-0555.