Delay to medevac baby criticized

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This article was published 09/10/2022 (764 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

An ill newborn baby and his mother had to wait upwards of 24 hours for a medevac from Pimicikamak Cree Nation to Winnipeg last week — a lengthy delay First Nations leaders say highlights flaws across the healthcare system.

“I don’t want anybody else to experience what we experienced with our baby,” said mother Alison Scribe, who gave birth to her fifth child just over two weeks ago.

Alison and Darcy Scribe took their infant to the local nursing station on Oct. 4 because they noticed unusual “jittery movements.”

The Pimicikamak mother said they were initially told their baby likely had gas and were sent home to monitor the situation. They returned to the facility the following day because the infant continued displaying odd behaviours, which a doctor soon diagnosed as seizures.

Alison, 35, said she was told on two separate occasions that an aircraft was on its way to take them to an urban hospital, but the first one never showed up and the second touched down at the Cross Lake airport only to be re-routed elsewhere.

The mother and her newborn eventually arrived in Winnipeg via plane on Oct. 6 in the evening. Darcy drove roughly eight hours to meet them at the Health Sciences Centre.

When reached by phone at HSC on Sunday evening, the father said he is frustrated about what has unfolded over the last week.

“It’s been emotional for me, to see my son go through (this),” Darcy said, adding their infant is doing well now, but his calcium levels continue to go up and down.

Pimicikamak Chief David Monias likened the situation to calling 911 and waiting for an ambulance for more than a day.

“We’ve got to start changing the system to make sure they’re able to respond in a manner that can save lives. We have way too many people dying in our community without receiving medical care, without even stepping into the hospital,” Monias said, adding there was a situation earlier this year when 20 people from the community were waiting on a medevac.

The Scribes’ experience sheds light on the concerning absence of ultrasound machines and other point-of-care testing equipment in northern nations, and the requirement for nursing staff to seek approval from an attending doctor at an emergency room in Winnipeg or Thompson to green-light a dispatch, Monias said.

“We’ve got to start changing the system to make sure they’re able to respond in a manner that can save lives. We have way too many people dying in our community without receiving medical care, without even stepping into the hospital.”–Pimicikamak Chief David Monias

The leader added he is particularly disheartened about the timing of this latest incident because it happened less than two weeks after he and other Indigenous leaders signed an agreement to address racism in the health-care system.

The Northern Health Region, Keewatinohk Inniniw Minoayawin and Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak — which represents 26 northern nations including Pimicikamak — signed the so-called Declaration to Eliminate All Forms of Indigenous-Specific Racism on Sept. 26.

The document sets in motion the creation of databases that will be able to chart Indigenous patients’ experiences and follow them through the medical system, from admission to discharge.

In a news release Friday, MKO leadership condemned the treatment of the Scribes’ and called on service providers to take urgent action to ensure people experiencing medical emergencies can access timely treatment.

A Shared Health spokesperson confirmed there were delays in bringing a baby to Winnipeg for treatment last week, but the young patient arrived at the HSC in stable condition via basic air transport.

The plane originally scheduled to pick-up an infant — who was, upon arriving at Cross Lake’s nursing station, “triaged as stable and appropriate for basic air transport” — was reassigned to a “higher triaged case,” the spokesperson wrote in an email Sunday.

“While patient privacy laws prevent Shared Health from speaking to specific details of an individual’s care, it is important to note this delay did not negatively affect this patient’s care or condition,” they said.

The spokesperson said the provincial authority’s child health transport team, which specializes in the care and transport of infants, remained in regular contact with nursing station staff and repeatedly assessed the case.

“We shouldn’t need to go to media to advocate for our children and yet it feels this is one of the only options that will get results… Systems have continually failed our children.”–MKO Grand Chief Garrison Settee

If the young patient’s condition had shown signs of possible deterioration, a flight to Winnipeg would have been expedited via the child health team’s dedicated aircraft, according to Shared Health.

Indigenous Services Canada did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the First Nations and Inuit health branch Sunday. Manitoba’s Medical Transportation Coordination Centre deferred a reporter’s inquiry to Shared Health.

“We shouldn’t need to go to media to advocate for our children and yet it feels this is one of the only options that will get results… Systems have continually failed our children,” said MKO Grand Chief Garrison Settee, in a release Friday.

“My thoughts and prayers are with his family and with the leaders of Pimicikamak,” Settee added.

Alison said her baby is scheduled to be released on Wednesday.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @macintoshmaggie