Montreal Baby dies after being rushed by police –

Montreal | Baby dies after being rushed by police –

An eight-month-old baby died in Montreal on Wednesday after being taken to hospital by police before paramedics arrived at the scene.

Posted 2:57pm Updated 4:35pm

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Vincent Larin

Vincent Larin The Press

The Service de Police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) declined to comment on the incident as it is being evaluated by the Coroner’s Office.

Urgences santé received an emergency call for a baby with shortness of breath on Lincoln Street in downtown Montreal at around 9:07 a.m. As no respondents were available at the time, the information was submitted by 9-1-1 in writing to Urgences Santé.

A priority 3 call was then assigned to the call, which means that an ambulance would then be sent to the scene, but without activating its siren.

At the time, it was impossible to reach the author of the call again for more details on the baby’s health, Urgences Santé spokesman Jean-Pierre Rouleau said on Wednesday.

Maximum priority

However, twelve minutes later, a second call from 9-1-1 found his health had deteriorated. A priority code of 0, the most urgent, was then set and a second emergency vehicle dispatched to the scene.

Arriving at the scene before paramedics arrived, SPVM cops from Neighborhood Station 12, which covers the Westmount area west of downtown, found the mother on the street, on the sidewalk, with her baby in her arms. Due to the urgency of the situation, they then decided to transport the child to the nearest hospital themselves.

According to our information, they tried to call Urgences santé to request the presence of an ambulance as soon as possible. However, given the delay, they felt they couldn’t wait and took him to Montreal’s General Hospital not far away.

The Bureau of Independent Investigations (BEI) was contacted by the SPVM after the incident and ruled that there was no need to launch an investigation into this intervention.

“It was very urgent to get the child to the hospital, so they made that decision […]. It was decided not to start the investigation as it was not a police operation but an aid operation,” confirmed BEI spokeswoman Mercedes Pacho.

Protocols complied with, says Health Emergencies

Arriving at the scene at 9:21 a.m. a minute after the police left, paramedics were assigned to join them at the hospital where the infant had been taken for transfer to a pediatric center.

The child was in critical condition at the time. He would be dead soon after. According to our information, the few months old baby already had serious health problems.

Urgences santé reiterates that this sad tragedy is in no way due to the staff shortages that have regularly affected their service in recent weeks.

“Our protocols were followed to the letter. The ambulance was called immediately, emphasizes one of his spokesmen, Jean-Pierre Rouleau. The desired level [de personnel] was reached today. It has nothing to do with staff shortages. »

With the collaboration of Daniel Renaud, La Presse