By Chelsea Laskowski

Man’s last hours: From hospital to police cell, and back

Dec 4, 2014 | 8:29 PM

A Little Red River First Nation man said emergency room (ER) doctors “won’t look after me” hours before he was arrested and later stopped breathing in a police cell, according to testimony.

This was according to Louis Caron, who sat with William (Billy) Ballantyne the morning he died of an accidental acetaminophen (Tylenol) overdose in the Victoria Hospital waiting room. In his testimony at a coroner’s inquest, Caron shed more light on what kind of shape Ballantyne was in the morning he died.

Ballantyne, 44, died on Nov. 29, 2012 after an ambulance took him to the hospital for complaints of a sore back. The man – who had previously been found tuberculosis-positive – had also been having trouble breathing.

He died later that morning after he was arrested for what a guard called a “disturbance.”

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The questions about what led to that were answered at a special inquest this week. Its purpose is to find the cause of death and to ensure future deaths of this nature are prevented.

After an ambulance picked Ballantyne up by ambulance from his sister’s house after a post-1 a.m. call to 911, he admitted to having a few drinks and smoking marijuana half an hour earlier. This statement was corroborated by paramedics and a triage nurse at the Victoria Hospital as they spoke to the events of that night. He arrived at hospital after 3 a.m.

Ballantyne did not mention that he consumed any other prescription medication that night, although his siblings said he’d snuck Tylenol (acetaminophen) from their purses to deal with pain. He’d fallen on ice earlier in the month and been sick for days following that.

Testimony about Ballantyne’s ER wait showing two very different perspectives. Staff – the triage nurse and two guards – said he seemed intoxicated. The guards also stated he seemed disruptive, with guard Tom Watts telling Ballantyne numerous times to stop laying down on a bench to sleep.

Watts saw Ballantyne interact with a family in the ER numerous times, and said he thought Ballantyne was being a nuisance to the family by asking for money and cigarettes.

A member of that family, Louis Caron, described a very different interaction. While he believes Ballantyne had had a few drinks that night, he did not seem drunk.

Ballantyne spoke clearly as he held his stomach and said he was sick throughout his stay in the waiting room between 3:30 a.m. and 6:30 a.m, according to Caron.

Caron, who was grieving the death of his own father that night, put a coat around Ballantyne to keep him warm.

Describing Ballantyne as a “nice guy” whom he liked, Caron said over those few hours, Ballantyne did not bother anyone.

Caron said Ballantyne did not think he’d be treated and that is why he continued to try to leave the hospital on a – 35 degrees C day.

Caron told Ballantyne to go with police after Ballantyne said “no” when a guard asked if he wanted to see a doctor. Caron said this is because he’d have a warm place to sleep. The guard then called police without speaking to the triage nurse first, according to testimony.

Ballantyne was not assessed by a medical professional before police took him away in handcuffs.

Caron later said to his wife “why would they kick him out?”

Ballantyne’s abnormal breathing was noted, and once in a prison cell he was checked on every 15 minutes. After 9 a.m. guard Tom Thompson called officers to tell them to check on Ballantyne because he was on the floor waving his arms.

Thompson noted Ballantyne had trouble breathing and said the man should go back to the hospital, according to his testimony.

Between the call for the arresting officer and her arrival, Ballantyne turned pale and his breathing got worse, Thompson told the jury.

Paramedics went “full out” trying to resuscitate Ballantyne, who did not register a heartbeat, breath, or brain acitivity when they arrived, according to testimony from Parkland Ambulance’s Patrick Belisle.

Ballantyne was later pronounced dead in hospital after further efforts were made to bring him back.

Recommendations

Traci Hobson with Prince Albert Parkland Health Region testified Ballantyne’s death alerted it to an issue within its system.

In the time since, they’ve identified a need for an assistant for the triage nurse in the ER as well as a need to liaise with police before removing a patient from the hospital, according to Hobson. She said they’ve also moved that nurse’s desk closer to where patients sit so they can see any issues.

The sometimes emotional family repeatedly asked the jury to consider this in their final recommendations through their representative, lawyer Kimberly Stonechild.

She wanted the jury to reiterate changes already made, such as police not taking a person from hospital without assessment by a health-care professional.

A controversial request was for those in the health region and with police to take sensitivity training to provide more empathy and cultural sensitivity when dealing with minorities. Stonechild pointed out some people who dealt with Ballantyne the morning he died assumed that he, a First Nations man, was intoxicated.

The jury did not heed that request in their recommendations but did agree with numerous others.

They asked for the Prince Albert Police Service to add a rule to their policy requiring officers not to remove people from hospitals or medical facilities without prior consultation with a medical practitioner, unless there is a public safety concern.

This is something police have already put into place, according to testimony.

The jury also asked police to immediately inform the sergeant when they bring in someone with a medical abnormality they are not equipped to address as police.

For Prince Albert Parkland Health Region, both recommendations have already been heeded, according to Hobson’s statements.

The recommendations ask that the triage nurse is provided with an assistant to ensure guidelines for patient reassessment are met, as well as making sure hospital security consults with a medical practitioner before calling police about disruptive people on hospital grounds.

claskowski@panow.com

On Twitter: @chelsealaskowsk