Man might have been dead for hours in Winnipeg ER before he was noticed

WINNIPEG — A homeless man who died during a 34-hour wait in a hospital emergency room could have been dead for hours before his body was discovered, Manitoba’s medical examiner said Wednesday.

Thambirajah Balachandra told the inquest into Brian Sinclair’s death that rigor mortis had begun to set in when the double-amputee was declared dead on Sept. 21, 2008.

Security footage showed Sinclair moved his head around 5 p.m. That was 22 hours after he first arrived at Winnipeg’s Health Sciences Centre emergency room, Balachandra said. Sinclair didn’t appear to move again and was declared dead just before midnight.

It’s likely Sinclair had been dead “for a couple of hours” before being found, Balachandra said. Rigor mortis, the stiffening of the body after death, usually takes about 12 hours to fully set in, but fever or seizure can hasten the onset.

Sinclair died after being referred to the hospital by a clinic doctor because he hadn’t urinated in 24 hours.

Sinclair was seen on the video approaching a triage aide when he first arrived in the emergency department and then sitting in his wheelchair in the waiting room. Someone approached a security guard 34 hours later with concerns about Sinclair’s condition and he was pronounced dead.

The 45-year-old died of an infection from a blocked catheter that spread into the bloodstream and caused him to go into shock, Balachandra said.

Sinclair vomited on himself while waiting, a sign he was likely going into shock, Balachandra said.

At that point, Balachandra said, someone should have checked his pulse and talked to him, asking him why he was vomiting and whether he needed help or a drink of water.

The inquest will break this month, then resume in October.