'Our child shouldn't have laid there': Mother waits hours on roadside with dead son
Brian Higgins | CBC News | Posted: May 4, 2017 8:00 PM | Last Updated: May 4, 2017
Mother of boy killed on snowmobile says coroners need to attend more quickly
The mother of a boy killed in a roadside crash last year says the coroner's response to her son's death was too slow.
Conor Shea, 14, died Jan. 17, 2016, when his snowmobile collided with a car on Route 14 in Pleasant View, Prince County.
His mother, Tishie Shea, said the hours after that awful moment caused her even more pain.
"Conor lay at the side of the road for two hours. We were waiting for a coroner to get there," she said. "It was very traumatic for everyone there."
Coroner gives permission to move body
P.E.I. law requires the coroner's office to investigate all unexpected deaths, and it is the coroner who gives permission to have the body removed.
In Shea's case, she said a coroner did not attend the scene in person. Instead, first responders received permission to allow the body to be moved after a two-hour wait.
The coroner's office confirmed for CBC News that coroners do not attend in person to all incidents.
Ambulance not for transport
Shea is also upset that the ambulance did not transport her son's body from the scene.
"An ambulance sat there with us and two policemen," said Shea. "I felt he [Conor] should have been put in the ambulance and brought to the hospital."
Later, a funeral home removed Conor's body.
The system of using ambulances to transport bodies in Queens County was changed six years ago. That job was handed over to firefighters in that county. The idea was to free up ambulances for other emergencies.
P.E.I.'s Chief Coroner Dr. Desmond Colohan said the coroner's service hopes to contract fire departments in Prince and Kings Counties to transport bodies as well. Currently that is done by funeral homes in those counties.
Changes may be coming
More than a year after her son's death, Shea wrote of her roadside experience on Facebook, as well as voicing concerns to government.
Shea wants something done to speed up the response of coroners to accident scenes, saying it would minimize stress on families and first responders.
In response to complaints, Colohan told CBC News changes may be coming to the way the coroner's office operates.
Colohan said his office has received three complaints over the past three years about how long it takes for the coroner to attend to fatalities.
P.E.I. has five coroners across the province, and Colohan said it's been difficult recruiting doctors to the role.
'We are aware when there are issues'
He said they are now looking at the system in Nova Scotia, where other health professionals — nurses and paramedics — act as field investigators.
"Hopefully I can reassure that poor lady that we are aware when there are issues," said Colohan. "We're getting lots of positive feedback from government that they are prepared to take a serious look at trying to improve that response time when in fact it's been an issue."
Shea said the current rules "are inhumane."
"Our child shouldn't have laid there for two hours. No one should lay there," she said. "It's a big problem that has to be fixed."
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