Tot near death minutes after hospital admission
Team physician testifies at trial that toddler’s prognosis was ‘very guarded’
Ten minutes after John Clark was taken to Alberta Children’s Hospital, he was near death, his parents’ negligence trial heard Thursday.
Dr. Cathy Ross said she joined the examination team treating the toddler shortly after he was rushed to the hospital from Foothills Medical Centre after his parents brought him in for emergency care.
“I was called to the ER to help with the resuscitation of this young boy,” Ross said of her call at 4 p.m. on Nov. 28, 2013, 10 minutes after the toddler arrived.
Crown prosecutor Shane Parker asked what his condition was at that time.
“He was moribund,” Ross testified.
“What does that mean?” Parker said.
“He was very close to death.” The boy’s parents, Jennifer and Jeromie Clark, are charged with criminal negligence causing death.
They’re also charged with failure to provide the necessaries of life for the boy.
The 14-month-old died the day after he was hospitalized, after suffering the second of two cardiac arrests following his admission.
His cause of death was listed as a staph infection related to malnutrition.
Ross said the child was suffering from a very low body temperature on admission and had a low heart rate of between 70 and 80 beats per minute.
“His heart rate slowed to a point where blood flow to all his organs would be compromised.”
She also said he had a rash “over his entire body.”
“He looked like he had septic shock,” Ross said.
She told Parker the child’s prognosis at that time was “very guarded.”
“He needed to be rewarmed and resuscitated with fluids and intubated to help his heart function,” the expert in pediatric intensive care said.
Her opinion on John’s condition was, “he’s very close to death and we may not be able to resuscitate him.”
Ross said doctors determined they needed to bring the child’s sodium levels up “to a safe level to prevent any further seizures.”
She was asked if the toddler was given saline fluids too fast and in too high a dose, which could create complications suggested by the defence.
“With children with severe septic shock, (the levels given were) not uncommon,” Ross said.
Under cross-examination, defence counsel David Chow focused on the sodium doses given the child before his first seizure.
Ross admitted being warned about what questions Chow would ask, but denied she was being defensive as a result.
“As a doctor, you have some concerns that you may have played a role in causing, or significantly causing John’s death,” Chow concluded.
“No,” Ross said.
The trial continues Friday.
His heart rate slowed to a point where blood flow to all his organs would be compromised. He looked like he had septic shock.