[Reporter] Intimate portraits of a life hanging by a thread
a candid peek inside Bernie Cook's days in a Calgary ICU.
Time he'd like to forget, but knows he won't.
They asked me if I wanted to be resuscitated.
They asked, if it comes down to it, do you want to live or die?
[Reporter] Home and on the mend now
Cook says the ICU was full of COVID patients.
He recalls one woman who came in as he was getting set to leave.
And I knew, she's in for freaking hell.
She's coming in for a journey
and I'm not sure
if she -- that's my thoughts going in my head -- I'm like she might not make it.
[Reporter] Similar stories are unfolding in ICUs across Alberta
over capacity and under resourced.
Doctors across the province urging the government to act now
to prevent a catastrophe.
We are in a position where we're right on the edge of the cliff.
I want to be able to know that there is a bed available for everyone
that comes in who's critically ill
and I'm not sure that I can promise that
if we continue on the path that we are in Alberta.
[Reporter] Many doctors calling for a so-called 'fire break' lockdown
to slow this fourth wave.
Without one, some predict Alberta could need more than
700 ICU beds by December, more than double what's being used today.
Hit the brake as hard as you can because the best indicator
we have right now is hospitals
and the fact that hospitals are overwhelmed
we cannot afford to have more cases arriving to a hospital.
[Reporter] Like most people in Alberta's ICUs, Bernie Cook was unvaccinated
when he went in.
He's been immunized now and has a message for Albertans who aren't.
Yeah I mean get vaccinated.
I mean it's -- I would recommend it.
So Erin, do we have any sense that the province is even considering a lockdown?
Well we know Jason Kenney doesn't like the idea, he's made that abundantly clear
but we have to remember that the premier said this summer
that the pandemic was over and that vaccine passports would never
come to this province
so the premier does change his mind
and as pressure mounts here during this fourth wave
it's not inconceivable that he might change his mind again.
[Adrienne Arsenault] All right, Erin Collins in Calgary tonight
Thank you, Erin.