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’s heartbreaking.”

Out of compassion and necessity, Gutman and a team of other healthcare professionals went to work to develop a kit that puts the power to diagnose what is ailing you, your child, or your parents in your hands – an at-home tool called the “Cold & Flu Rescue Kit,” which provides accurate and quick test results and is backed up online and over-the-phone. The benefits are many and include knowing what is the appropriate course of action.

We invited Dr. Samuel Gutman to join us for a Conversation That Matters about tackling one of our biggest health care fears, not knowing what is wrong, and whether the government should be providing you with this valuable tool.