Death was preventable for a Winnipeg man found after more than 34 hours in the waiting room of a major hospital's emergency department, the province's chief medical examiner said Wednesday.
Brian Sinclair had a catheter for a bladder problem. The catheter was blocked, so he hadn't been able to urinate for 24 hours and his bladder was full, said Dr. Thambirajah Balachandra.
He died of a resulting infection.
Balachandra called the death over the weekend "entirely preventable," saying the infection could have been addressed with antibiotics. Sinclair had been treated in hospital in March for the same condition, he said.
Balachandra has called an inquest and he expects it to begin almost immediately.
In response to Sinclair's death, the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority has issued a directive requiring clinics that send people to the emergency department to follow up by phone.
Manitoba Health has asked emergency department staff to ensure every person in the waiting room is spoken to, to determine whether they have been registered.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/st...air-death.html