Zombie Myths in the Emergency Department ft. Dr. Ken Milne

Dr. Ken Milne

Emergency departments are increasingly congested in Canada. Some patients wait five, ten, up to twenty hours to receive care. To put that in perspective, that is over three times the recommended time that a patient should be waiting in the emergency department. Some rural hospitals distributed an official announcement for patients to prepare for extended wait times. These long wait times are occurring amid a shortage of family doctors and rural hospital closures, resulting in massive barriers for patients to receive care. 

Emergency department crowding also known as overcrowding has been defined by the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians (CAEP) as “a situation where the demand for emergency services exceeds the ability of an emergency department (ED) to provide quality care within appropriate time frames”. 

This is not a new issue. Many places have faced crowding issues for many years. To solve this issue of crowding, CAEP developed a taskforce, EMP: Power to develop solutions. Other proposed solutions include increasing access to primary and virtual care.  

 Yet both understanding the cause of crowding and the solutions are being impacted by zombie ideas. Ideas that keep coming back to life despite a mountain of evidence that says that it does not work. 

Webinar “Zombie Ideas in the Emergency Department” 

On Tuesday, April 1st, 2025, from 12 – 1 PM, Dr. Ken Milne and Dr. Kay Dingwell presented a lecture on “Zombie Ideas in the Emergency Department” via ZOOM. Dr. Ken Milne introduces the idea of Zombie Ideas and explores the issue of crowding in Emergency Departments.  

Dr. Ken Milne is a staff physician at the Strathroy Middlesex General Hospital in Strathroy, Ontario, Canada. He has been doing medical research for 41 years publishing on a variety of topics. He runs a knowledge translation podcast series known as the Skeptics’ Guide to Emergency Medicine 

Dr. Ken Milne was joined by Dr. Kay Dingwell in the discussion. Dr. Dingwell is a rural physician in Prince Edward Island. She has a lifelong love of rural living and feels strongly that all Canadians deserve to get the care they need when they need it, as close to home as possible. 

The full episode can be watched on YouTube: 

Gateway CERH has covered similar lectures in the past including: 

• Rural Transport Medicine by Dr. Sean Moore - a discussion on ambulance, EMS and healthcare services offered in rural and remote communities in Ontario. 

• Retention: Why is the Key to Recruitment by Dr. Sarah Newbery – information on how to recruit and retain healthcare professionals in rural & remote communities. 

• Acute Care Centralisation by Dr. Louella Vaughan & Dr. John Browne – an introduction on the unintended consequences of centralising healthcare services. 

• Postal Code Medicine by Dr. Ken Milne – a conversation on how geography can be a social determinant of your health and wellbeing. 

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About Gateway Centre of Excellence in Rural Health 

Founded in 2008 in the community of Seaforth, ON, Gateway CERH is a not-for-profit rural health research organization run by a community-based volunteer board of directors. Gateway CERH's main mission is to better the health and quality of life of rural residents through research, education and communication. Learn more on the Gateway CERH website at: https://www.gatewayruralhealth.ca/ and follow on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube  

A brief disclaimer: the views expressed in these lectures may not necessarily reflect Gateway CERH’s views or opinions, but we believe in providing a platform for a range of perspectives and thoughtful discussion. 

Gateway CERH has a full library of lectures and information about the upcoming presentation that can be found on our website: https://www.gatewayruralhealth.ca/lectureseries  

Or watch all past lecture online on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GatewayCERH/videos