Fatal train crash inquest to focus on response, communication

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This article was published 08/09/2022 (1203 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

An inquest into a fatal train derailment in a remote part of the North won’t examine whether faster or different medical treatment at the scene could have prevented the death, a Manitoba judge has ruled.

Kevin Anderson, 38, died Sept. 15, 2018, after the Hudson Bay Railway train he was conducting derailed in Ponton, south of Thompson. It had been carrying hazardous goods. He lay pinned while bleeding out, and died after nearly nine hours.

Another crew member was seriously injured but survived after they were extricated by emergency crews.

The emergency response was delayed as the trapped crew members were unable to reach their dispatch or call for help. The wreck was discovered by chance after a helicopter passing by overhead spotted it two hours later, the Transportation Safety Board found.

The inquest called by Manitoba’s chief medical examiner, Dr. John K. Younes, was adjourned in December, after the doctor’s opinion on whether the conductor could have survived changed.

In his initial letter calling for the inquest, Younes wrote Anderson’s death was due to blood loss, but if an intravenous line had been established, along with other interventions, his chances would have dramatically improved. The injuries came from Anderson being crushed by equipment after the derailment.

Prior to the inquest’s start, Younes said he had based that opinion on a casual conversation with a colleague, and the colleague did not realize their words would be given such weight.

An independent physician was then asked to provide a report, in which he said the injuries were likely fatal regardless.

The City of Thompson and Thompson Fire & Emergency Services filed a motion to modify the scope of the inquest so it would not focus on whether Anderson’s death was preventable.

Instead, it should focus on a review of the co-ordination of multi-agency response to a serious incident in a remote part of the province, and what changes, if any, could be made to the medical system to prevent similar deaths from occurring in such remote settings, the motion said.

Judge Timothy Killeen issued his ruling Wednesday, noting the circumstances and expert opinions do not indicate medical treatment at the scene would have prevented Anderson’s death.

He found the delay in emergency responders arriving to the scene, as well as communication issues, will need to be examined in the inquest.

“It is important to determine what can be done to speed the response,” Killeen wrote.

He also said the issues that caused Anderson’s death need to be considered to address how a life might be saved in a similar incident.

A TSB investigation previously found the track in the area was neglected and susceptible to heavy rain and high water levels.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca