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This article was published 22/4/2015 (2616 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
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Drianna Ross
Drianna Ross's little heart was beating 200 beats a minute by the time emergency personnel took her vital signs on a medevac flight to Thompson, a sure sign she was fighting an infection, an inquest heard Wednesday.
That evening in Thompson, the two-month-old was diagnosed with pneumonia.
The morning after, she died.
An inquest underway in Winnipeg heard testimony from Dr. Terry Klassen, the medical director at Children's Hospital in Winnipeg. Klassen wasn't directly involved in Drianna's care but he was called as a pediatric expert for his testimony into her death in 2011.
The baby from God's Lake Narrows, a First Nation 500 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg, had a fever Nov. 22, 2011. Her parents took her to the local nursing station where they were sent home with Tylenol.
Her condition worsened over the next few days. On Nov. 25, the little baby was taken back to the nursing station three times and arrangements were made to transfer her by air ambulance to the Thompson General Hospital.
Immediately after her death, First Nation leaders called for an inquiry at the time, citing a similar death before her, of a six-month-old baby with meningitis.
The inquest was called to examine health care on remote northern First Nations where nurses provide most of the care at nursing stations.
Most remote reserves in Manitoba are served by nursing stations that are open during business hours and have a high staff turnover. Doctors fly into the community and are otherwise available by phone.
The inquest heard that test results after Drianna's death showed the baby had virulent bacteria running through her system called methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA. At the time of her death, Drianna was so sick that she was in septic shock, when bacteria infects the blood stream, effectively shutting down the organs in her body.
Klassen didn't tell provincial court Judge Don Slough that Drianna could have been saved, had she been treated more aggressively in Thompson or flown to Winnipeg.
But he said Drianna was an infant from the north where MRSA infections occur at high rates, which are red flags for doctors.
Half a dozen lawyers who represent various health authorities and medical groups with an interest in the case kept the doctor on the stand all day under questioning.
"Drianna Ross was in a high risk group because of the pneumonia. . . (that) can evolve to septic shock. For sure, you need timely administration of fluids and antibiotics. You can improve the outcome," Klassen said.
Since her death, pediatricians in Canada have formed an organization to identify the diseases that can cost kids their lives, called TREKK. Septic shock is one condition of 20 that doctors have listed as red flags. They intend to get information out to hospitals and clinics so medical staff and parents can catch the symptoms early and get treatment faster.
"There are still gaps in the system which is why septic shock remains important to recognize early on," Klassen said.
In Winnipeg, a team with a nurse and a respiratory therapist out of Children's Hospital is now available to fly anywhere in the province to provide emergency care, the result of an investigation into the death of another child transported by the STARS air ambulance.
The inquest travelled to Thompson and Gods Lake for hearings in 2013 and 2014 with everyone involved in the baby's care taking the stand, including the family. More hearings were conducted in Winnipeg this winter, with testimony expected to wrap up this week.
Recommendations will follow to guide the judge when he writes his report on ways to prevent deaths like this in the future.
alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca
