A veteran emergency room nurse says she saw no medical signs that one of her ER regulars would be dead less than 36 hours after she last saw him.
Cindy Penney, a nurse with more than 25 years experience at the La Ronge Health Centre, testified today at a coroner’s inquest into the death of Walter Clinton McKenzie.
McKenzie died of a brain hemorrhage in September 2010, after being found unconscious in a La Ronge police cell.
Penney said she knew McKenzie from his numerous visits to the ER, and aside from a small cut on one eye, her medical examination the night before his death showed nothing other than signs he had been drinking heavily — which matched his usual behaviour.
She saw no bleeding, bruising or other signs of injury, and McKenzie said he had not been knocked out in the fall that caused the cut on his eye. He would not let Penney examine the eye.
Penney said nurses at the La Ronge Health Centre rely on the local RCMP for help when faced with a patient who does not need obvious medical help, but are too drunk to be out on their own.
She said having the option to send someone like Walter McKenzie to a shelter, rather than a jail cell, would be better for everyone.
Penney said police were called because she felt McKenzie would be safer in a cell than at the hospital, as sharp needles and other hazards could harm him if he went wandering at the hospital.