Ambulance gear too big for toddler, trial hears

LETHBRIDGE A medical witness for the defence says she disagrees with what killed a toddler whose parents are on trial for failing to provide the necessaries of life.

Dr. Anny Sauvageau was crossexamined by the Crown on Wednesday in the trial of David and Collet Stephan, whose nearly 19-month-old son, Ezekiel, died in March 2012 after being sick for more than two weeks.

Court has heard how his parents gave him natural remedies, including smoothies with hot peppers and horseradish because they thought he had croup and the flu.

The medical examiner has testified the boy died of bacterial meningitis but Sauvageau said the boy likely had viral meningitis and she’s never seen a child die of that form of the disease.

Sauvageau said Ezekiel died because paramedics couldn’t establish an airway quickly and he probably would have been fine if the ambulance had the proper equipment.

Sauvageau, a former chief medical officer of health for Alberta, noted it is possible for viral meningitis to cause someone to stop breathing, but that could have been treated with proper intubation.

“My opinion is that his death is directly related to the paramedic interventions. If not for that, on balance of probabilities, he would have survived.”

A paramedic testified early on in the trial that the ambulance that was rushing Ezekiel to a hospital in Cardston had a bag valve mask for supplying oxygen that was too big for a small child.

He also told the jury that an endotracheal tube managed to provide the child with some oxygen, but it was only partially effective because the tube was also the wrong size.