A Labrador family in the local service district of Norman’s Bay says their family member deserved better after waiting nearly two days for an emergency medevac for care.
Ovadius Morris died on July 5 at the Charlottetown Community Clinic while waiting for the medevac. She was 53.
“I truly believe in my heart that this did not have to happen,” Shelley Wheeler, a close family friend of Morris, told CBC News Tuesday.
“[Her family] don’t want anyone else to even have a little bit of what they’re going through.”
Wheeler said Morris recently discovered she had immune thrombocytopenia, a rare autoimmune disorder that attacks the body’s blood platelets. It can lead to excessive bleeding if a person is cut.
While Wheeler said the autopsy report hasn’t been shared, she said Morris suffered what she called a “massive bleed.”
Morris hadn’t been feeling well for some time, Wheeler said, and the decision was made to medevac her from the Charlottetown Clinic to St. Anthony for further testing.
But thunderstorms in the St. Anthony area on the weekend of July 4 meant a plane couldn’t reach her.
Wheeler said she and her nephews arrived at the airstrip where the plane was expected to land, heard a plane in the area but ultimately, heard it turn around and leave.
“Everyone came, Ovadius and the nurse and other family members … I heard the plane, but it didn’t come down. It didn’t land,” Wheeler said. “We were all sitting there like a deer caught in headlights.”
Wheeler said the family is now left looking for answers — like why the plane couldn’t land in another area to pick up Morris, whether a helicopter could have been used instead of a plane and if an authority like the Canadian Coast Guard could have gotten involved in place of the medevac.
Wheeler also believes the medevac issue goes beyond Morris’ story and highlights a need for equitable health care for those living on coast of Labrador.
“We are people, too, and we deserve the best healthcare that we can get,” she said.
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On Friday, the provincial government announced it had increased the number of schedevac — scheduled medical evacuation — flights until the end of September as part of a pilot program.
Lisa Dempster, the Liberal MHA for Cartwright-L’Anse au Clair and a friend of Morris, said she hopes real change can be made. She also questioned why alternative measures weren’t made to bring Morris to Happy Valley-Goose Bay or Quebec.
Stories like Morris’ aren’t a one-off, Dempster, adding Morris is the latest person to be failed by the medevac system.
“I believe we can find some justice for Ovadius by unraveling all of the details and trying to find an answer to what happened to this woman. And to ensure that it never happens again,” Dempster said.
“It isn’t about politics, it’s about accountability … We have a history in Labrador of when the call goes out for help, help doesn’t come. It has to change.”
Both Dempster and Wheeler said they’ll remember Morris for a big heart and caring nature to many. Dempster said Morris’ death has rocked the south coast, and her funeral at the local community centre was standing room only.
CBC News asked Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services for a response to Wheeler’s comments, and was sent an emailed statement.
The statement said air ambulance operations were significantly affected on the weekend of July 4 because of reduced visibility, a low cloud ceiling and thunderstorms.
Once a medevac request is made, the statement said patients are triaged and the sickest patients are moved first. Conditions are consistently monitored and reassessed during weather delays, the statement continued.
Additionally, the health authority said the Coast Guard’s Joint Rescue Coordination Centre can be called in in severe cases, and that that request must be made by the transport medical physician.
After an unrelated event Tuesday at the Labrador Friendship Centre in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Health Minister Lela Evans was asked about the medevac flight and if there were any plans for a review or inquiry into what happened.
“In actual fact, of course, we don’t speak to specifics because we can’t. But in terms of the decision whether or not a place can land, that’s solely with the pilots,” she said.
“Doctors and nurses and politicians don’t interfere with the pilots’ decisions because it has to be safe,” Evans said.
The minister added she does believe, as a blanket statement, patients’ families should be able to get answers to their questions.
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