Family of patient who died during pandemic air transfer files lawsuit

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This article was published 09/03/2023 (912 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The family of an ICU patient, who died following the failed attempt to airlift her to Ontario at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic’s third wave, is suing the Manitoba government, health authorities and airline.

Two flight staff members and one Brandon ICU nurse, all unnamed, are also being sued.

Krystal Mousseau, a 31-year-old mother of two from Ebb and Flow First Nation, died May 25, 2021, after an attempt to airlift her from Brandon to a hospital in Ontario for care. At the time, patients were being flown out of province because Manitoba ICUs were full.

“The conduct of the government and Shared Health was careless, callous, reckless with full knowledge that Krystal’s death was entirely avoidable,” the claim states.

Mousseau’s family is seeking financial compensation and a court declaration the government and Shared Health violated her charter right to life and security of person.

A statement of claim was filed March 7 in Manitoba’s Court of King’s Bench on behalf of Elaine Mousseau, Krystal’s mother and administrator of her estate.

The claim alleges Mousseau’s death was wrongful and preventable. It asks the court to hold the province responsible for cutting critical-care beds, contracting out air ambulance service, and failing to properly plan for the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keewatin Air, hired to fly Mousseau to Ontario, wasn’t licensed to transport critical-care patients, the claim alleges.

Manitoba Justice, Shared Health and Prairie Mountain Health declined to comment on the allegations in the lawsuit, issuing a statement that said: “We would like to offer our deepest sympathies to the family of Ms. Mousseau.”

A representative for Keewatin Air couldn’t be reached for comment.

Mousseau was being treated for COVID pneumonia and was stable when she was in the Brandon hospital ICU, but her family never consented to her being transferred out of province, the claim states.

She was set to be flown to Ottawa General Hospital, via Keewatin Air on May 24, 2021, to free up a local ICU bed, the claim says.

However, the air transport team didn’t have the proper equipment to monitor her blood pressure, the document says. Blood pressure readings also went undetected or were unobtainable at the hospital and on the ground ambulance, the claim alleges.

During the transfer, while infusions of her medications were being transferred in preparation for the transport, Mousseau developed a high heart rate. She was in “unrecognized, progressive shock” for about 75 minutes in the Brandon ICU prior to being transported by ground ambulance, according to the claim.

The lawsuit details how flight plans had to change because the crew needed to first pick up an arterial line so they could properly monitor Mousseau while she was on the ventilator. She was never able to be moved to the aircraft; by then, she was too unstable.

Mousseau was readmitted to the Brandon ICU and pronounced dead at 2:09 a.m. the next day.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of Manitoba announced last year it would not call an inquest into Mousseau’s death.

On Thursday, during question period in the legislature, NDP Leader Wab Kinew asked Premier Heather Stefanson to respond to the lawsuit.

“The company hired to transport Krystal Mousseau was not licensed to provide critical care transportation in Manitoba. This is deeply concerning. We know that the premier was the health minister at the time that this death occurred. Why did she contract with companies to transport critically ill patients who did not have a licence to do so?” Kinew asked.

Stefanson offered condolences to Mousseau’s loved ones.

“The leader of the Opposition will know that this case has undergone a formal process through critical incident reporting. It’s also gone to the chief medical examiner, who has reviewed the incident and the report’s findings… The chief medical examiner has the official capacity and authority to make the determination if further action is required… We will respect the process and refrain from further comment because it is before the courts.”

The premier didn’t directly respond to Kinew’s questions about the privatization of air ambulance services.

“This was very difficult and challenging times in the middle of a pandemic, where critically ill people were being looked after by physicians within our hospitals and difficult decisions needed to be made, clinical decisions needed to be made,” Stefanson said, thanking medical staff “for the incredible work they did.”

The claim, which hasn’t been proven in court, argues the defendants breached their duty to care for Mousseau.

The government and health authorities had a responsibility to provide a “reasonable standard” of critical care, which they failed to do, Mousseau’s family argues. They claim Shared Health “hastily drafted” its out-of-province patient transfer protocols without consulting ICU physicians or other critical care experts.

“The decision by Shared Health to move Krystal, a person in critical condition, via air ambulance out of province was not done to benefit Krystal, nor was it done to stabilize her or provide the best outcome for her health. On the contrary, the decision was made solely as an operational measure to free up an ICU bed for another patient, without regard to Krystal’s life or physical security,” the claim states.

Brian Meronek, lead counsel for Elaine Mousseau, said the Mousseau family deserved better.

Unless the civil suit goes to trial — which could be years from now, if it happens — details of the case aren’t subject to public disclosure.

A public inquest should have been called, but the chief medical examiner’s office decided against it “for reasons that were erroneous and quite frankly unacceptable, and they (the Mousseau family) were left with no other choice but to bring this action,” Meronek said Thursday.

Before she was hospitalized, Mousseau was caring for her two teenage daughters and a teenage nephew.

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Mousseau and her family are Indigenous. Her mother is a Sandy Bay residential school survivor.

“By contributing to Krystal’s wrongful death, the government frustrated and slowed that process of reconciliation,” the claim states.

By virtue of their marginalized status, the claim alleges, the family was treated “callously and without dignity or respect by a lack of communication, consultation and support with the family prior to Krystal’s death.”

— with files from Danielle Da Silva

katie.may@freepress.mb.ca

Katie May
Multimedia producer

Katie May is a multimedia producer for the Free Press.

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