Protocols needed for care of intoxicated patients after Ontario woman’s death: inquest
An inquest probing the circumstances surrounding the 2012 death of an Ontario Indigenous woman is recommending stricter protocols for handling intoxicated patients.
Jurors at the inquest heard that Ina Matawapit died in police custody after being turned away from the nursing station in her home community of North Caribou Lake First Nation in northwestern Ontario.
Jurors heard nurses told police to bring Matawapit back for a medical assessment only after she had sobered up from a recent bout of drinking.
The 37-year-old died of heart failure hours after she was turned away.