Heather Brenan's daughter frustrated by lack of answers at inquest

An inquest into the death of a woman who died hours after being discharged from a Winnipeg ER continued in Winnipeg on Tuesday.

• Inquest to examine death of woman sent home from Winnipeg hospital in taxi
• Seven Oaks hospital faces lawsuit over woman's death

Heather Brenan was sent home from Seven Oaks Hospital in a cab around 11 p.m. on Jan. 27, 2012. She collapsed outside her house and was rushed back to hospital but died shortly after.

Now, the inquest is looking at the circumstances surrounding her death.

On Tuesday, the inquest heard from two nurses who saw Brenan in hospital before she was discharged.

Nurse Arvadell Egesz testified Brenan had trouble breathing during her medical tests the day she was discharged.

Later in the day, Claudine Knockaert, the nurse in charge of the ER at Seven Oaks Hospital, said Brenan arrived from Victoria Hospital around 7 p.m.

Brenan was supposed to have completed an endoscopy at Victoria Hospital but couldn't because of difficulty breathing during the procedure.

Knockaert said she couldn't remember if she saw a medical report from the hospital that indicated the procedure had to be stopped. She also couldn't recall if she told nurses who were working a later shift than her about the report.

She testified she did have a verbal exchange with another nurse about when Brenan could be discharged and was told she could be sent home after medical tests were completed.

Knockaert testified her shift ended at 7:45 p.m. Brenan was discharged at 11 p.m. that night.

Wayne Didkowski, the nurse who called a taxi for Brenan when she was discharged, also testified on Tuesday.

He said he knew Brenan had undergone a test earlier that day and that she was supposed to be discharged after the test.

Didkowski testified a doctor in the ER told him Brenan was cleared to go home, but he said Brenan was worried about going home because she didn't have a ride and had no keys to her home on her.

He said he called a friend with a key and asked her to meet Brenan at her home.

Didkowski said he later learned the woman had died after collapsing outside her house.

Brenan's daughter was frustrated with the lack of answers offered on Tuesday, specifically from Knockaert.

"If you're about to give testimony at an inquest, you review your day's work. You don't say you don't know who was working or what you said," said Dana Brenan. "My mother came back at an inconvenient time during a shift change … she was seriously ill … but they sent her home."

The inquest has already heard that Brenan did not feel well enough to go home and did not want to be discharged from the busy ER.