Death while waiting for help: An ambulance arrived five hours after his accident

The long delay before the rescue of a motorist involved in a crash at km 338 of the Philly-Diamond Road (formerly James Bay Road) in 2021 was “unacceptable”, a coroner has concluded.

Scott Henderson, 60, of British Columbia, was alive on May 30, 2021 at 4:30 a.m. when the first passerby was stopped with a head injury.

“Had Mr. Henderson received first aid and been transported quickly to a hospital with facilities for the treatment of multi-morbidities, his fate may have been different,” Coroner Me Genevieve Theriault said. Newspaper.

First responders from the Radisson, about 280 km from the crash site, arrived around 9:15 a.m. Mr Henderson died at around 8am.

“The long delay in this case seems to me unacceptable,” Me Theriault argues.

Breakdown in service

According to the coroner, several factors contributed to this long delay. The regular ambulance service at the roadhouse at Km 381 under the responsibility of the provincial government was withdrawn from service earlier in the day.

The primary first responder had completed his 21-day stint at a truck stop located twenty minutes from the crash site. As the post of Second First Responder was vacant, there was no one to replace him.

“It seems inconceivable to me that the only first responder service on this 620km stretch of road could be affected by service failures,” notes Me Theriault.

No guarantee

The Société de Développement de la Baie-James (SDBJ), which is responsible for managing the truck stop, has filled the vacant lot, but it “cannot guarantee foolproof security”.

“It’s not really often that we have an innovation, but it just happened to come at the wrong time,” said Alain Coulombe, president and CEO of SDBJ.

During a discovery, the SDBJ implements a relief plan so that the towns of Matakami and Radisson cover the territory. The last break in service was a few weeks ago.

According to the coroner, it is urgent to put in place initiatives like helicopter evacuation of road accident victims. The difficulty of accessing the cellular network in this isolated area was also raised.

Unlike other provinces, Quebec does not have a first-response helicopter transport system, but the Ministry of Health and Social Services says it may begin a reflection on the air offer following a filing last June.
Government policy on pre-hospital emergency services.

The family did not want to comment. Fatigue and alcohol — the victim was alone and driving with a blood alcohol level of 175 mg/100 ml — contributed to the loss of control of the van that had been converted into a motorhome..

• Date of accident: May 30, 2021
• Tired and under the influence of alcohol, the van lost control between 4 am and 4:30 am.
• The road is beautiful and the conditions are good
• 4:30 am: Stop by the first passerby leaving the victim to call for more
• 5:15 am: Call to emergency services
• 6:10 am: Arrest of new passers-by staying with victim
• 8 am: Driver succumbs to injuries
• 9:15 am: Ambulance arrives from Radisson about three hours later