Conversations That Matter

Ep 437 - The Cold & Flu Rescue Kit Guest: Dr Samuel Gutman   You feel a tickle in your throat; you notice your child snuffling; or your older parent is zapped of energy. You can’t help but wonder: COVID? Or what other respiratory disease is going to work inside your and your loved ones’ bodies? “We are all hyper-aware, just having endured three years of COVID”, says Dr. Samuel Gutman. “I was an ER doc who, for 3 decades, saw the look of fear on the faces of people who flooded emergency departments looking for answers.”   With more than six million Canadians who can’t get a family doc, patients have few choices to find answers. Gutman says, “So they come to the ER and, in doing so, they are creating another form of congestion – hours-long waits to see a doctor. And who can blame them?”   It’s not just COVID. The list of fears includes Strep A, Influenza A and B, and now RSVs – all of which are sending Canadian families to the ER. “I’ve treated patients who have waited more than 12 hours,'' says Gutman. “It