2024-08-21 16:35:01
Quebec must speed up the replacement of outdated aircraft and ensure adequate air medical transport, two coroners recommended in a report released Wednesday.
Published at 12:35 pm Updated at 10:43 pm
Two patients interviewed died before arriving at their destination for treatment.
The first case is made by press early this year. Ben-Stevens Suchky, 28, was never able to board the plane that picked him up at Val-d’Or airport last January.
Read “Death on the Tarmac”
Coroner Me Francine Danais confirmed the patient was unable to board the flight due to a lack of night pilots from the Government Air Service (SAG), private subcontractors arranging flights and certain medical equipment being frozen.
After waiting for a long time on the tarmac at -22°C, the ambulance had to take the man back to the hospital.
He suffered a first cardiopulmonary arrest on the tarmac and a second upon arrival at Val-d’Or hospital, where he was pronounced dead less than an hour after leaving the airport.
May Darnais of the Ministry of Transport suggested that there is a need to “accelerate the replacement of obsolete aircraft in the emergency air transport fleet and, if necessary, improve them as quickly as possible” and “facilitate the attraction and retention of pilots” and Sustainable Transport Quebec (MTQ) ).
Quebec must also require its private providers to keep the heat on while waiting and allow medical teams to familiarize themselves with their aircraft models.
In the second case, in August 2022, it took the CLSC in Salut nearly six hours to receive the emergency medical evacuation team needed to transport a 61-year-old patient. , died shortly after arrival at the Inuulitsivik Health Center in Puvirnituq.
Coroner Me specifically recommended that there is a need to “ensure the availability of sufficient numbers of qualified personnel and aeromedical transport to respond promptly to requests from First Nations and Inuit communities across the board, based on clinical needs.” department.
Photo taken from the website of the Quebec Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Transport
Challenger aircraft used by the Quebec Government Air Service
Transport Minister Geneviève Guilbault and Health Minister Christian Dubé had no comment Wednesday, their respective offices said.
“Case Report press This is unacceptable,” Minister Geneviève Guilbault’s office said in January. He then pledged to “take steps to promote attracting and retaining talent and renewing our fleet.”
“Replace the fleet as soon as possible”
“Unfortunately, we have to use these two cases to get the government to change its mind,” lamented Wednesday the president of the Quebec Public and Quasi-Public Services Federation (SFPQ), whose pilots and technicians are members of the SAG.
“It was clear that we needed to replace the fleet as quickly as possible. This is what we have been denouncing for years,” Christian Daigle recalled in a telephone interview.
SAG has four aircraft: two Challengers and two Dash 8s, but coroner Francine Danais confirmed that they “are aging and require more and more maintenance, which means they will have to be retired in addition to insufficient numbers”.
However, air traffic from remote areas has surged (+38%) over the past five years. Therefore, SAG must claim that the private jets “were not equipped in the same manner” and that “the medical teams were not equipped for these aircraft.” [familiarisées] ».
Last January, the plane was delayed for 50 minutes: the medical team on board the Quebec flight had to familiarize itself with the layout of the supplier’s Pilatus PC-12 before flying to Val-d’Or.
The president of the union representing SAG pilots and technicians now says he is more “optimistic”.
In principle, the Common Front for the Public Service will see a 17.4% pay increase over five years, and the agreement plans to make adjustments to SAG that should in principle “make up for part of the wage gap with the private sector” and promote retention and recruitment.
The purchase of a 2017 Challenger aircraft in mid-June and “rumors that discussions with Bombardier are underway to purchase newer aircraft” also gave hope to SAG’s ranks.
“This is a step in the right direction. The rest, I’m still waiting for an official announcement from the government and to know when the money will be spent. »
“Bombardier cannot comment on the identity of its customer or share information relevant to its discussions,” a company spokesman responded Wednesday.
The province of Quebec paid nearly $28.5 million in a private contract to purchase a used Challenger CL-650 from Bombardier. The device must be suitable for medical transport before it can be put into use. The deadline for the government tender to find suppliers is September 13, with contracts for one year.
unstable patient
Two patients awaiting emergency airlift were in critical condition.
The man from Val d’Or had just been admitted to the intensive care unit with pneumonia and severe septic shock and had been vomiting blood for three days. His “only viable option” was medical equipment only available in urban centres. “Although Mr. Tuskey’s health is very unstable, […] and it is impossible to determine whether the treatment is effective […] If his life could have been saved, his chances of survival would certainly have been greater,” coroner Francine Darnais concluded.
Patients from Salut arrived at CLSC with latent tuberculosis, chronic cough, bronchiectasis (bronchiectasis) and blood in the lungs that passed through the mouth.
“Of course Salute is a remote area,” coroner Julie-Kim Godin agreed.
However, “in Ms. Kumakaluk’s case, issues with the organization of services, the prioritization of requests, and the availability of human and material resources resulted in lengthy transfer delays.”
View the coroner’s report
learn more
216 Number of times SAG will have to use private supplier aircraft in 2023
Source: Coroner Me Francine Danais’ Report on the Death of Ben-Stevens Tuskey
1724295669
#Air #medical #transport #coroners #urge #Quebec #improve #services
