The lawyer for a family suing STARS Air Ambulance cites the latest critical incident involving the service as evidence problems with STARS are systemic.
Robert Tapper represents the family of Morgan Moar Campbell, a two-year-old boy left brain damaged after a trip with STARS in May.
Tapper contends the boy’s breathing tube was dislodged during the flight.
A woman being transported by STARS died on Thursday, Nov. 28.
That death prompted the government to ground STARS Air Ambulance in Manitoba while a critical incident review is conducted.
Manitoba Health’s Gerry Delorme said the death may also have been a result of a disruption of oxygen.
“When I learned that this case isn’t isolated - that there’s a systemic problem going on, that sort of dovetails exactly to what I think happened here,” said Tapper. “Somebody was asleep at the switch or not following their protocols.”
There have been three critical incident reviews involving STARS so far in 2013 and another 15 less serious cases are also being investigated by the province.
Tapper wonders why it took a death for the province to suspend the service.
“That sort of thing happens but it should be a rarity. It shouldn’t be the norm and it now appears that this is the norm,” he said.
STARS is still operating in Alberta and Saskatchewan.
A spokesperson for the company said this is the first time in any jurisdiction the service has been grounded for any non-weather or mechanical issues.
