Quebec to bolster medevac air fleet in response to coroner’s report – Nunatsiaq News
Oct 16, 2024
Death of Salluit woman sparks change in Nunavik’s medical evacuation system
Quebec’s health ministry is moving to improve its medical evacuation services in response to a Quebec coroner report on the death of Kitty Kumakaluk, who waited six hours for hospital transport out of Puvirnituq two years ago.
Kumakaluk died of acute pneumonia on Aug. 11, 2022, at Puvirnituq’s Inuulitsivik Health Centre.
In the report, released Aug. 14, coroner Julie-Kim Godin highlighted that the six-hour delay for Kumakaluk’s medical evacuation could have been avoided.
She offered two recommendations to the ministry: ensure the availability of qualified staff and aerial transport in sufficient numbers; and put in place, within six months, a call centre that would manage and prioritize requests for medevac flights.
