Kilburn Hall supervisor tells inquest he was 'comfortable' with decisions made at time of teen's death
Saskatoon teen died after overdosing on meth he smuggled into youth jail, coroner's inquest was told
Two supervisors at a Saskatoon youth jail told an inquest Thursday they didn't think a teen who eventually died there was overdosing — and that's why they didn't call an ambulance until the teen was lying unresponsive on the floor of his cell.
That was despite claims by other staff members that the teen knew he was overdosing and was begging for an ambulance for hours before his death.
Dale Larocque was one of two supervisors working at Kilburn Hall the night the teen died there.
The 17-year-old boy, who cannot be named because of provisions in the Youth Criminal Justice Act, had been arrested on July 25, 2015 for allegedly breaching a community supervision order.
He died of an overdose five days later, on July 30.
Larocque described the teen as agitated and aggressive, but said that based on the advice of a nurse he spoke to by phone, he thought the teen was coming off drugs, not overdosing.
"I was very comfortable about how we went about it and the decisions that were made," Larocque told the coroner's inquest into the teen's death Thursday.
"Based on what he was presenting to me and what we knew, I had no indication that we had to take him to the hospital."
Nurse said to watch for blue lips, slurred speech
Larocque and the supervisor who took over his shift, Robert Johnson, both said the nurse advised watching for signs of an overdose like blue fingertips or lips and slurred speech. Larocque said the teen did not exhibit any of those signs.
He also said part of the reason he didn't call an ambulance was because the teen wouldn't tell him what he took. The teen also had a history of "manipulating staff" to get to the hospital, Larocque testified.
When Johnson took over the supervisory role around 11 p.m. that night, he said some staff, including youth worker Angela Silva, expressed concern that the teen had taken meth and was overdosing.
The inquest heard earlier it was likely the teen had smuggled methamphetamine into the centre.
But Johnson, who also testified at the inquiry Thursday, said that at shift hand-off, Larocque "at the time did not belive that [the teen] took crystal meth."
Johnson said he eventually went down to the teen's cell at the urging of other staff. He found the teen lying on the floor frothing at the mouth, and with his eyes glazed over.
That's when he called 911.
The inquest heard by the time the paramedics arrived and he was taken to the ambulance, he had no pulse.
Worker says she asked for ambulance 8 times
Larocque said he did not recall conversations with a youth worker, Angela Silva, during which she said that an ambulance should be called.
Silva testified earlier this week that she asked her supervisors to call an ambulance at least eight times, but they refused.
"He was begging for his life. He was begging for an ambulance," Silva said during her testimony.
Larocque said while it would have been against policy for a subordinate like Silva to go against her superior's orders and call an ambulance, if he was in her shoes he would have broken that policy.
"If I went to my supervisor and said I wanted to call 911 and they said 'no,' chances are if I felt strongly enough about it I would do it," he said.
Testimony at the inquest wrapped up today. The six person jury is expected to start deliberations Friday. The inquest is a fact finding exercise and will not find blame. The jury is expected to deliver recommendations on how to prevent a similar death in the future.