Death of man who fell out of ambulance an accident
A coroner’s jury has deemed an accident the death of a Quesnel man who fell out of the back of an ambulance and has issued recommendations to prevent a similar event from happening in the future.
Ebony Aaron Wood, 36, died on Nov. 7, 2016, two days after the incident.
He had been involved in a motor vehicle incident and reportedly walked a short distance from the scene to ask someone to call 911.
RCMP attended the scene and Wood was placed in the back of the police cruiser when he told an officer he was experiencing chest and shoulder pain.
An ambulance was called to take Wood to G.R. Baker Memorial Hospital in Quesnel. But while on the way, Wood left the back of the ambulance, falling to the road and suffering a head injury.
A three-day inquest in Quesnel ended Thursday with the jury issuing seven recommendations, five aimed specifically at the B.C. Ambulance Service:
make changes to the reardoor lock location to limit the patient’s access to the mechanism;
change ambulance design to allow for two-way communication between paramedics;
when the ambulance is moving, carry out routine checks of features that work when the vehicle is in motion;
add visual indicators to the ambulance that tell the driver and paramedic if all doors are closed and locked;
upgrade GPS technology to allow for different directional orientation of the mapping information.
The jury also recommended BCAS and RCMP get enhanced training on mental health and substance use to improve their ability to assess a patient’s behaviour and risk.
And the jury recommended the RCMP be sure to communicate any behaviour problems that could endanger the patient or others.
Inquests are mandatory whenever a person dies while in police custody. Witnesses provide evidence under oath to determine the facts surrounding a death and the jury is asked to decide the cause of death and make suggestions to prevent deaths under similar circumstances.
The B.C. Coroners Service is not a fault-finding agency.