It is “highly probable” that the significant delay of 8:30 a.m. that it took the emergency services to transfer an infant in crisis from the Attikamek community of Manawan, in Lanaudière, to the CHU Sainte-Justine, in Montreal last April had an impact on his chances of surviving.
Posted at 10:56 a.m.
This is indicated by coroner Géhane Kamel in her report released on Tuesday on the circumstances that led to this tragedy in April 2022.
On March 31, little Niteïyah Chilton experienced “flu-like symptoms” which led her parents to contact the nurse on call at the community dispensary, located nearly 200 km north of Joliette, in Lanaudière. .
Despite the nurse’s recommendation to administer acetaminophen, she reportedly began to convulse the next day, her parents therefore requesting ambulance transport.
The call was made at 8:59 p.m., but as the Manawan teams were overwhelmed, it was transferred to a team from Saint-Michel-des-Saints, which would take 1:48 a.m. to reach the dispensary.
Result: the child was taken care of at the Lanaudière Regional Hospital Center at 2:30 a.m., i.e. 5:30 a.m. after the initial call to 911. Given his critical condition, it was then decided to transfer the infant to the CHU Saint -Justine, where he will arrive at 5:32 a.m., 8:30 a.m. after the initial 911 call.
At that time, despite the efforts of the medical team at CHU Sainte-Justine, “the neurological prognosis is bleak,” wrote coroner Géhane Kamel in her report, and the child was declared dead at 8:50 a.m.
“In this context, and given the initial medical assessment, it seems to me very likely that delays of this magnitude have had an impact on the survival of the child and deserve consideration of ways to reduce them. and thus prevent this from happening again, ”she continues.
Three recommendations
In these circumstances, the coroner makes two recommendations to the government. First, it invites the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS) to “complete, as soon as possible [son] vast project to transform pre-hospital emergency care, including helicopter transport”.
According to what the MSSS told the coroner, it is already working on such a reform, although no implementation date is indicated.
Coroner Kamel also recommends that the Ministry of Higher Education consider setting up college cohorts of Aboriginal origin for pre-hospital care programs, “to compensate for the lack of staff in this field in remote regions. “.
Already, last April, voices were raised in the wake of the baby’s tragic death to demand the creation of college training for paramedics reserved for Aboriginal people.
“These delays, also caused by a lack of ambulance personnel, must lead us to think about solutions outside the established frameworks,” insists coroner Géhane Kamel.
Finally, she invites the Manawan dispensary to favor the right means of transport in order to reduce transfer times, for example, by using the service by helicopter when the situation requires it.
Indeed, the situation should have “probably should have required an initial assessment which would have favored transport other than land”, she indicates.