The Saskatchewan Health Authority says summer can bring up a lot of health questions and Healthline 811 is a great place for answers.
Questions on sun burns, scrapes and bug bites are common at this time of the year, and health professionals from the provincial healthline are in service for 24 hours a day, seven days a week to help with those concerns.
Manager for Healthline 811 Sangeeta Gupta said with wait times at hospitals and emergency rooms rising, this is a great stop for not just health concerns, but all medical questions.
“We have a vast resource data base of information with regards to a variety of health and mental health related concerns, so we can also provide education if that’s what’s needed,” she explained.
If a person is dealing with an urgent situation, for example someone is having a heart attack, Gupta said they need to call 911.
However, if there are other concerns or people are not sure who to call regarding a health or mental health related question, they are welcomed to contact Healthline 811.
And when it’s time to make the call, there are a few things you’ll need to have ready before calling.
“We ask that people have their health card ready when calling us and they can enter it into the system,” said Gupta. “Either a registered nurse or mental health clinician, depending on the need, will be able to answer their questions.”
The healthline can be reached anywhere in the province by calling 8-1-1.
Healthcare professionals receive about 10,000 phone calls from across Saskatchewan.
