INQUEST RECOMMENDATIONS

Coroner’s jury recommends devices after teen in custody dies of overdose

Kilburn Hall considers body scanners

Saskatchewan’s Corrections Ministry is “actively” looking into installing airport-style full-body scanners at Kilburn Hall youth detention centre in Saskatoon, a spokesperson says.

Adding the scanners was one of six recommendations made by the coroner’s jury at the inquest into the methamphetamine overdose death of a 17-year-old at the facility on July 30, 2015.

The 360-degree scanners could catch contraband being carried inside body cavities without violating inmates’ human rights, spokesperson Drew Wilby said after the inquest ended Friday.

It would be “a valuable tool that ... I think will be required in order to make sure that the facility, the staff and the inmates are all safe,” Wilby said.

The jury found the youth died from an accidental overdose.

They heard testimony indicating the teen smuggled the drug into the facility in his anal cavity when he was arrested three days before his death.

About two hours before his death, he told staff he had taken too much and was overdosing, the inquest heard.

Two staff members wanted to call an ambulance but were overridden by supervisors who thought he was simply withdrawing from a two-week methamphetamine binge, the inquest heard.

The jury also recommended doubling the time nurses are on site each day to 16 hours from the current eight.

Wilby said it will be important to consider 16- or even 24-hour coverage, “if we are to ensure the safety of our inmates.” Adult jails have nurses on site 16 hours a day, he said.

Other recommendations include ongoing staff education for medical emergencies including recognizing signs of overdose and knowing how to take vital signs, reviewing emergency protocols and annual ministry reviews of “key critical policies.”

Wilby said 2015 was “a watershed year” for Saskatchewan’s corrections system because a surge in methamphetamine and fentanyl in the community also caused problems in institutions.

Facilities now have posters to identify signs and symptoms of overdose and withdrawal and more staff training has begun, he said.

All correctional workers, including transport staff and courthouse deputy sheriffs, are now being trained in the use of the opiate antidote Naloxone, he said.

The lawyer for the youth’s family, Ammy Murray, said it was difficult for them to listen to the often harrowing accounts of his last hours but they are glad the story is out and that people are paying attention. His name cannot be published under provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

They had hoped for recommendations that families and guardians be notified when an inmate is placed on one-to-one supervision.

They would also like activated charcoal for absorbing drugs in the body to be available alongside Naloxone and said they think ambulance staff should learn how to recognize and treat overdoses from medical sources rather than from police in-services, Murray said.

The family expressed “extreme gratitude” to youth workers Angela Silva and Peter Gravlin.

“It’s been very difficult. There’s been a lot of sadness ... anger ... frustration, but it’s like a weight has been lifted. Now everybody knows,” Murray said.