Tragedy points to need for sober centre: Brandon mother

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This article was published 15/07/2022 (1189 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BRANDON — The death of Ryan Eamer, one day after he sought treatment at Brandon’s hospital, was a failure of the medical system and a tragic example of why western Manitoba needs a sobering centre, his mother says.

Brenda Eamer said the 46-year-old wanted help and never got it.

“During that entire time, no one (at the hospital) stopped to ask if he was OK, took five minutes to just check on him…,” she said.

“If someone had just taken a couple minutes to talk to him, he would likely be here now.”

On Feb. 18, 2021, she went with him to the hospital to get detox help. He died a day later from head trauma sustained in a fall. She said it has been a frustrating journey to get answers and she wonders why there aren’t more harm-reduction options in the city.

She said the hardest part, is that Ryan wanted help but couldn’t find any.

He had struggled with alcohol dependency for years, Eamer said. He had been doing well, but he relapsed during the pandemic because he lost his support system of friends and co-workers.

On that day, she said, they went to the emergency room to have him admitted for his alcohol dependency. A nurse told them Ryan was too intoxicated to be admitted to a detox bed. As his mother and emergency contact, Eamer insisted he stay because he suffered from withdrawal seizures. He was admitted, and she left due to COVID-19 restrictions.

She found out later that Ryan twisted his ankle and fell, hitting his head, in the hospital. A review into his death by Prairie Mountain Health confirmed it.

A nurse called police under Manitoba’s Intoxicated Persons Detention Act, which is used when a person is deemed a threat to others or themselves. Police officers took him to the station to sober up.

Eamer insists he wasn’t a threat to others. She was later called to pick him up at the station.

Ryan, who had a visible bruise on his forehead, asked to return to the hospital, his mother said. Yet, he was not triaged or examined by a doctor. The health authority’s review also confirms this.

“He was trying to do everything right. We put our trust in the hospital and (he was) still denied help,” she said.

Fed up and humiliated by his ordeal, Ryan asked to go back to his apartment.

Eamer found him dead in his apartment the next day.

It took 15 months to obtain the official autopsy report, in which the cause of death was listed as blunt-force trauma to the head. A critical incident review took 13 months. The College of Registered Nurses of Manitoba documented the ordeal but did not discipline the two nurses involved in Ryan’s care, according to a report by the CBC.

“It really does wear you down,” she said.

But, she refused to give up.

Prairie Mountain Health eventually issued an apology, Eamer said, and the review made several recommendations. Those included having a permanent mental health liaison in the ER, updating policies related to patients who use substances, and providing clear guidance on how to treat those who are intoxicated and seeking detox services.

A health authority spokesman said they wouldn’t discuss details of the case with the media. However, they did say they are working with the province to establish a sobering centre in Brandon.

Eamer wants an inquest to be held into Ryan’s death to show how the system failed him happened and prove a sobering centre is needed.

Last year, the province announced $2 million had been pegged for such a facility.

Since then, however, there appears to be little progress.

“This city should be looking at what works around the country. We’ve had a year, there should be a plan in place,” she said.

One such advocate is Kim Longstreet.

“After doing this for so many years, Brandon definitely needs a centre where all services for people who are struggling could be met,” said Longstreet, whose son overdosed in 2012.

She said a comprehensive plan for the centre was drawn up and would address gaps in services, including a standardized assessment and screening tool, detox, long-term treatment, structured sober living, rapid access to addictions medicine and a medical van to dispatch to calls.

It would also take the pressure off the hospital, she said.

Right now, most of the help for substance disorders and alcohol dependency is not available 24-7, or is faith-based, which doesn’t apply to everyone, Longstreet said.

City of Brandon manager Ron Bowles confirmed the city is collaborating with the province to develop a plan for a sobering centre.

The Canadian Mental Health Association will perform an assessment and provide recommendations for a made-in-Brandon approach to a sobering centre.

The association is scheduled to have a report ready by the fall or early winter.

— Brandon Sun