An independent report obtained by Global News states that the racist bias of Winnipeg firefighters prevented them from helping an Indigenous woman in serious distress.
The report, done by Laurelle Harris of Equitable Solutions Consulting, says the firefighters failed to help after repeated requests from a local paramedic at the scene, delaying medical care and transportation of the woman. The report says the situation was fueled not only by an “implicit racial bias” toward the patient, but also toward the paramedic.
The incident began on Oct. 20, at about 4 a.m., when paramedics and police were called to the North End, where an Indigenous woman, 23, had stabbed herself in the throat.
Firefighters, police and paramedics went to the home, and the paramedic, a person of colour, began to treat her.
Once she was stable enough to move to the ambulance, the paramedic asked one of the four firefighters to hop in the back of the ambulance to ride to Health Sciences Centre to assist, according to the report.
The paramedic told investigators he had to ask three times, despite being the senior health care official on scene and therefore in charge.
This led to a two-minute delay in taking the woman to HSC, according to video evidence detailed in the report.
A firefighter did eventually climb into the back after being ordered to do so, but he wouldn’t help the patient. The woman had to press on the dressings over her neck wound herself so the paramedic could do other medical treatment.
The report says the paramedic allegedly reported “racist social media posts” made to a private Facebook group by firefighters to HR earlier that year.
“The Investigator finds that the Respondent’s failure to voluntarily take steps to assist the Complainant until he was ordered to do so … (was) the result of personal animus arising from the Respondent’s knowledge of the Complainant’s previous complaints of racism,” Harris writes.
“The Respondent’s conduct in its totality, including his failure to assist the Complainant upon arrival at HSC (was), minimally, retaliatory.”
The investigator said the firefighter’s refusal to put his hands over the patient’s wound was also concerning.
“The Respondent’s failure, however, to take over putting pressure on the wound from the patient (having provided no other patient care which would prevent him from doing so) also denotes a lack of concern on his part for the patient’s physical and emotional wellbeing.
“This lack of concern is indicative of the presence of implicit bias on the basis of the social standing and/or the race/indegeneity of the patient.”
The firefighter told Harris that he didn’t believe the wound was that serious or that there was enough blood loss to warrant his help.
In a memo to staff, WFPS Chief John Lane said “the outcomes as they relate to any employees will continue to remain confidential.”
However, the report recommends no disciplinary measures because an implicit bias is a subconscious one, Lane says.
“The recommended approach is department-wide education and training,” he writes. “We will be rolling out this mandatory training for all staff in the coming weeks.”
“There is absolutely no tolerance for overt racism at WFPS,” he writes. “If an employee is found to be intentionally targeting anyone in the workplace based on human rights characteristics … we will act swiftly and there will be consequences.
“If you see something like this in the workplace, we expect you to report it immediately.”
At a press conference Wednesday, Lane said the disciplinary process is underway and will not be discussed.
He also said the entire report was meant to be confidential and that the department was planning on releasing a summary of the report.
Answering a question about the apparent tension between firefighters and the paramedic, Lane said the WFPS will be conducting surveys on workplace culture in the service.
Asked if those reports will be released to the public, he said they would be released to the workforce.
“That’s really who the intended audience is.”
Mayor Brian Bowman recalled when Maclean’s magazine ran an article about Winnipeg’s racism program and he said then, as he says now, that racism is a problem “at all levels of government.”
“The city of Winnipeg commissioned the independent review that’s being discussed,” he said Wednesday, adding that work to train and educate people has been happening since then.
“That work is ongoing,” he said.
The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Arlen Dumas said the firefighters in question need to be fired.
“The City of Winnipeg needs to set an example and terminate these individuals and terminate this culture of racism that the Fire Chief acknowledges exists but has yet to be dealt with,” said Dumas in a statement sent to media Wednesday.
“I, in the strongest words, condemn the actions and more importantly inactions of the WFPS firefighters involved in this situation.
“Paramedics and Firefighters are first responders. Their actions determine life or death. To deny care or life saving measures is inhumane.”
However, Dumas praised the actions of the paramedic.
“I want to express my acknowledgment of the paramedic, who was left on his own to save this woman’s life and then went to great lengths to ensure that this situation was not only brought to the attention of his direct superiors, but went further to ensure that the public was notified and that an investigation into the incident was had.
“Calling out racism, overt or discreet is not an easy thing to do.”
Manitoba Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont sent out a statement saying people in the North End worry about police and paramedics responding all the time.
“It’s not just that racist attitudes are unacceptable— people who have them are bad at their jobs and people get hurt and die because of them,” said Lamont.
“Changing culture should mean if a first responder thinks they get to pick and choose who to help, they have no business working as a first responder. If they think that protecting a reckless co-worker’s job is more important than protecting public lives, they should be fired.”
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