A coroner’s review into deaths involving Ornge will look at whether the fatalities could have been prevented and if any improvements in the air ambulance service can be made.
An earlier review of 10 deaths found that none had been "materially affected" by issues at Ornge, which is currently under a criminal probe for financial irregularities.
But the provincial coroner’s office said more cases have since come to light.
The expert panel review, announced on Wednesday, will examine all deaths involving Ornge between January 2006 and June 2012.
“The purpose of this review is to look at any deaths that have happened where there’s concerns related to air ambulance transport and to try and understand what we can learn from the circumstances of those deaths,” deputy chief coroner Dan Cass told CTV Toronto on Wednesday.
Cass said that the panel will also recommend how to improve the service, if warranted.
The process isn’t about trying to lay blame, he said.
“We’re trying to look at those and identify not just did the air ambulance issue cause or contribute to the outcomes, but also regardless of whether it contributed to the outcome, what can we learn,” said Cass.
Asked about the coroner’s review, Premier Dalton McGuinty said all of the recommendations brought forward will be taken into account at Queen’s Park.
“If the coroner’s panel comes forward with any recommendations to enhance the safety measures, then obviously we’d be very interested in receiving those and putting those in place,” McGuinty told reporters.
One of the deaths up for review is that of Richard Ribeiro, a 28-year-old father who died in May after the cube van he was driving crashed into a dump truck near Stouffville.
An Ornge air ambulance was called to respond to the crash, but was unavailable because a crew wasn’t scheduled to staff the ambulance.
“My life has changed completely. It’s completely changed,” Richard’s grieving father, Jorge Ribeiro, told CTV Toronto.
Ribeiro said he hopes something can change so that other families don’t suffer a similar fate.
“What they should learn, what they should take from this, is that the system needs to be changed,” Ribeiro said.
The premier said on Wednesday that since concerns surrounding Ornge surfaced last year, changes have been made to the agency’s board and new safety measures have been implemented.
An all-party probe into Ornge wrapped up for the summer in early August.
The legislative committee heard from dozens of witnesses, including Ontario's health minister and the service's former CEO Chris Mazza.
Cass said he expects the coroner’s review be completed by late fall of this year.
With a report from CTV Toronto’s Colin D’Mello and files from The Canadian Press
