WELLAND, Ont. - A coroner's inquest delving into whether the closure of small-town hospital emergency rooms contributed to the death of a badly injured teenager opened Monday as her parents and friends looked on.
The death of Reilly Anzovino, 18, of Fort Erie, Ont., prompted questions about cost-cutting measures and a wider call for the coroner's probe.
"We have some concerns about paramedic performance," Wayne Redekop, the Anzovino family lawyer, said outside the court.
"We have some concerns about the actions of the Niagara Health System prior to December 2009 in terms of the availability of emergency services."
Anzovino was pronounced dead shortly after paramedics got her to hospital in the early hours of Dec. 27, 2009 following a car crash on icy roads.
The crash occurred on rural Highway 3, almost exactly halfway between two hospitals in Fort Erie and Port Colborne, Ont.
However, emergency rooms at both hospitals had been closed, and paramedics were forced to make the longer drive to Welland, Ont.
Anzovino, who appeared to suffer from serious internal bleeding, was in and out of consciousness until just before the ambulance arrived at hospital, the inquest heard.
"She became very quiet very quickly," Crown lawyer Michael Blain told the three-woman, two-man coroner's jury.
Efforts to revive her over the next 50 minutes failed.
Anzovino was a passenger in a car driven by long-time friend Molly Fairgrieve. They were driving late Boxing Day when the car hit a patch of ice and spun out, the inquest heard.
An oncoming vehicle smashed into the spinning car, leaving Anzovino's passenger door "crushed in."
In his opening statement, Blain said the first call to 911 came in at 11:31 p.m. and the first ambulance arrived on scene at 11:39 p.m.
It took another 16 minutes to get Anzovino out of the vehicle, place a breathing tube in her throat, and get her into the ambulance as she regained consciousness and began struggling furiously.
"They used bandages to restrain her," Blain told the inquest, presided over by Dr. Jack Stanborough.
It took another 10 minutes before the ambulance finally left for the 21-minute drive to the Welland hospital.
Because she was the passenger, no autopsy was done.
Tim Anzovino and Denise Kennedy, who at times choked back tears during evidence, said they preferred not to comment on their daughter's death now that the hearing is underway.
"We're looking forward to a thorough, fair process," Redekop said on their behalf.
"We're looking for answers to many questions as to what happened that evening."
All aspects of the paramedic response, including how much time they spent at the accident scene, as well as any impact the ER closures had will be examined at the inquest, which will hear from about 19 witnesses directly involved at the crash scene.
"We are not here to point fingers or lay blame," Stanborough said.
"No one is on trial."
Provincial New Democrat Leader Andrea Horwath said "we have the wrong priorities" when hospital CEO salaries "skyrocket" while front-line staff are laid off.
"There needs to be a hard look at the fact that people, regardless of where they live in Ontario, should be able to access some basic medical services, including emergency wards," Horwath said.
