WINNIPEG – Brian Sinclair sat in his wheelchair at the Health Sciences Centre emergency room for 34 hours in 2008 and five years later, an inquest heard he may have been dead for as long as seven hours before staff were alerted by a patient.
Manitoba’s chief medical examiner, who called the inquest, testified Wednesday that he hopes it will find out why the 45-year-old waited so long for medical treatment.
“So that you and I, when we go to the emergency department, we can expect to be treated in time and sent home,” said Dr. Thambirajah Balachandra.
Balachandra said Sinclair’s death was preventable — his bladder infection would have taken half an hour to treat, but the prolonged delay led to his death.
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Shortly after Sinclair’s death, the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority said Sinclair didn’t go to the triage desk, so staff never knew why he was there.
“He never made it to that triage desk and wasn’t triaged and wasn’t registered, so he wasn’t known to the emergency staff as somebody who was waiting for care,” said Real Cloutier of the WRHA in February 2009.
But Balachandra testified that on a security camera video, Sinclair can be seen going to the desk and speaking to a medical aid, but he wasn’t properly registered before he wheeled himself to the waiting room.
Balachandra said staff coming and going for their shifts should have been curious.
“What would you do if you go to the hospital one day and the following day you go to the hospital and the guy is sitting in the same place, same guy. What would you do?” said Balachandra.
The WRHA has since made changes to how patients are triaged but Balachandra said more changes are necessary.
Sinclair’s family feels he was discriminated against but Balachandra said Sinclair wasn’t neglected because he was aboriginal.
“Even if Snow White had gone there, she would have got the same treatment,” said Balachandra.
Testimony continues Thursday.
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