“My baby looked perfect,” said Dunn, who had to deliver a stillborn girl by C-section on March 23 at Dr. Everett Chalmers. “They promised to do better. Now someone else is dead.” At the heart of Dunn’s pain is why it took 12 hours for someone to check on her baby’s health. WATCHES | Fredericton couple still grieving after losing child in ER
Woman who lost baby at Fredericton ER says hospital promised to do better
Aimee Dunn says hospital vowed to make changes, but then heard man died in ER waiting room
Dunn, who was 35 weeks pregnant, says her medical history should have prompted her pregnancy to be a top concern.
At 30, Dunn had already had a miscarriage and an ectopic pregnancy.
Diabetic since childhood, she entered the hospital wearing her insulin pump.
A cast of Reia Dunn’s feet and hands, given to Dunn and Waite by the staff of the Regional Hospital Dr. Everett Chalmers. (Submitted by Aimee Dunn)
And her records showed she had lupus, an autoimmune disease that can increase the risk of pregnancy complications.
She said she was under the care of Dr. Erica Holloway, a specialist in the mother’s fetus.
Dan thought the maternity ward would take good care of her.
He knew its nooks and crannies, working there in the evenings to work on the house.
Her duties include removing trash, disinfecting equipment, and cleaning up after women give birth in the labor and delivery unit.
“It can take up to an hour,” Dunn said. “But none of that bothers me. I’m happy to do it.”
Something went wrong
On March 22, when Dunn was still excited that her day was coming — that she would soon be a mother herself in labor and delivery, holding the baby girl she had already decided to name Reia — she began to feel pain. He started vomiting and heaving uncontrollably. Her partner, Mitchell Waite, said he called the delivery and was told to bring Dan. But when they got to the unit, they were pulled away and told to go to the emergency department. Dunn was immediately admitted at 5:43 p.m., according to the autopsy report. Already, she has symptoms of preeclampsia, a known risk factor for maternal and fetal death. But Dr. Stephen Cashman in the ER seemed preoccupied with using cannabis, Dunn said. She had been diagnosed early in her pregnancy with hyperemesis gravidarum, or severe nausea and vomiting. A cannabis user since she was 15, she decided to continue using it during her pregnancy against the advice of her doctors. She said it helped reduce nausea, but more importantly, it gave her an appetite. Dunn says she is getting by with the support of her friends and family. From left are Aimee’s grandmother Albina Stuckless, Aimee, best friend Anita Mihailescu and Aimee’s mother Joanne Dunn. (Rachel Cave/CBC) In the ER, both Dunn and Waite felt dismissed by the nursing staff and Cashman. “He really didn’t want anything to do with us anymore,” Waite said. “He won’t even talk to me, I don’t even smoke weed. “Both him and the nurse treated us like poor people we were hoods.” Dunn’s medical records show that Cashman planned to be discharged but was reluctant to go and insisted on staying overnight. He doesn’t remember Waite leaving the hospital around 10pm that night. “I thought everything was settled at this point,” Waite said. “He is in good hands. It’s in a good place. He will get the care he needs. “It wasn’t like that at all.”
No fetal heartbeat
According to an emergency department report written by Dr. Anthony Sarkisian, Kasman managed Dunn’s care until she was turned over to Dr. Yogi Segal, who then turned her over to Sarkisian at 1 a.m. At the time, Dunn was listed as stable with normal blood pressure. According to Sarkisian’s report, Seghal had reported that Dunn was evaluated by labor and delivery, who deemed her symptoms unrelated to her pregnancy, so she was taken to the ER. Dunn insists she was not seen during labor and delivery. Shortly before 6 a.m., Sarkisian wrote, it was first reported that Dunn had elevated blood pressure. He reviewed her vitals and labs and realized that she had consistently had high blood pressure since presenting to the ER. Aimee Dunn and Mitchell Waite after their baby shower on March 5. (Submitted by Aimee Dunn) “It was clear to me at the time that the patient was suffering from pre-eclampsia,” he wrote. He also noted that attempts were made to contact Dr. Sheri-Lee Samson, the obstetrician on call, but she and another doctor were in the operating rooms, performing emergency C-sections. He noted that Dunn was in diabetic ketoacidosis. Soon after, he had a seizure and was rushed to acute care for resuscitation. When the “midwife” saw Dunn at 6:30 a.m. on March 23, the fetus’s heartbeat could not be detected, the autopsy report said.
‘Doesn’t sound good’
Waite, an engineer, said he was getting ready for work when he got a call to return to the hospital. “They said I had to go to L and D [labour and delivery] right away, and I was like, OK, that doesn’t sound right,” Waite said. “So I’m in L and D and they’re explaining what’s going on and they told me about the seizures. They weren’t prequels to Reia’s death. “They tell me, ‘It’s possible he’s dead.’ So I stayed there, not really understanding the whole idea.” Dr Erica Sollenberg, with the pathology department at IWK Hospital in Halifax, wrote in her autopsy report that the fetus was anatomically normal and likely died during the nighttime hours. “The specific mechanism of fetal death in maternal eclampsia is not well understood, but it is likely asphyxiant due to acute insufficiency of the vascular supply from the uterus to the placenta,” he wrote. By the time Dunn had her seizure, Schollenberg said, she had laboratory features of both eclampsia and diabetic ketoacidosis.
Sorry from the hospital
Dunn said it took her a while to find the strength to ask for her medical records. When she took them, she felt sick again. She wrote a detailed complaint outlining what happened to Horizon patient representative Gillian Gillies, who set up a meeting for May 31. Also present were Nicole Tupper, the hospital’s executive director, Dr. Erica Frecker, chief of obstetrics and Dr. Krishna Pulchan, chief of emergency medicine. “They basically apologized for what happened,” Waite said. Dan said she was touched by Pulchan’s kindness. “He was a really quiet person and when it came to his turn, he spoke very softly,” she recalls. Dunn and Waite decorated the nursery in white and pink before Dunn’s April 27 due date. (Submitted by Aimee Dunn) She said Pulchan expressed his deepest condolences and told her he was moved to tears when he read the complaint. “He couldn’t believe how out of everything that happened that night, if one person would have given some kind of compassion that this outcome could possibly have been changed,” Dunn said. “Yeah, that was the problem,” Waite said. “Nobody cared enough that night.” Neither Dunn nor Waite took notes of what was said at the meeting. They said they were told there weren’t enough emergency specialists to staff the ER, so family doctors were filling the gap. They also said the hospital was working on plans to add critical care triage to the labor and delivery unit. The emergency department will make changes to better monitor patients in the ER waiting room.
Horizon’s statement
CBC News has requested interviews with any of the doctors present at the May 31 meeting and a copy of any action plan that emerged from the review. No interviews or details were given. Instead, Horizon released a written statement from Margaret Melanson, the interim president and CEO. “Horizon has a thorough quality control process that ensures that concerns raised by a patient about the care they receive at our facility are followed up. The results—as well as any recommendations or mitigation measures—that may arise from the review are shared openly and transparently with the patient and their loved ones,” Melanson wrote.
Complaint filed with the college
Dunn said she filed a complaint with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of New Brunswick. The college confirmed it is looking into her complaint filed against Dr. Stephen Cashman of Vancouver. The outgoing president Dr. Ed Sollenberg said Kassman will be given an opportunity to respond before the college decides on next steps. The college could decide to hold a disciplinary hearing. Schollenberg said everything takes time and wondered if this case would end up under the scrutiny of a forensic investigation. “I would think that would be eligible,” he said. Dan and Waite are still grieving the loss of their first child. The hospital let Dunn hold Reia for a while. She was also given a cast of Reia’s tiny feet and hands and a handprint. Dunn said what she really wants, since she will never get her baby back, is for the hospital to follow through on its promise.
Another death in the ER
On July 12, a man described as elderly who sat in a wheelchair died alone while waiting to be seen at Chalmers ER. Dan was shocked. She had been told that staff would receive “compassion training” and that improvements were already in the works. “They said they had a new plan to make sure patients in the waiting room are seen by someone and get some kind of treatment while they wait. Even if it’s just Gravol for nausea.” He doesn’t want to hear about people not getting proper care in the emergency room. “At this point we are determined to continue to fight for change,” Dunn said.