THUNDER BAY - After 25-year-old Emmanuel Oruitemeka became unresponsive while inside the Thunder Bay Police Service headquarters, officers say they did not initiate any first-aid because it was believed he was still breathing, but his breathing was likely inadequate and not providing enough oxygen to his brain.
“Looking back at it as I recalled the events, I can’t see myself doing anything differently,” said now-retired Thunder Bay Police Service Sgt. Sean Mulligan. “I observed he was still breathing, his airways were clear, his eyes were fluttering, there was involuntarily muscle movements. The only thing in hind sight is maybe getting a little closer.”
Mulligan was one of several officers present inside the Balmoral Street police service headquarters to testify in the coroner’s inquest examining the circumstances surrounding the death of Oruitemeka in February 2014.
Oruitemeka was first arrested on Feb. 12, 2014 after police responded to a possible weapons call in the Trillium Way area involving three Black males.
Oruitemeka was described as agitated in the back of the police cruiser while being transported to police headquarters but after arriving, he became limp and unresponsive.
For several minutes, officers searched Oruitemeka while he was on the floor of the booking room. When he did not respond to a sternum rub, officers called paramedics.
There was an attempt to place Oruitemeka back into the police cruiser to be transported to hospital, but officers were unable to and he was left on the floor of the sally port.
When paramedics arrived, it was determined Oruitemeka was vital signs absent and he was rushed to hospital. He died four days later. The cause of death was determined to be a lack of oxygen to the brain due to a cardiac collapse likely caused by the ingestion of cocaine.
Officers inside the booking area and sally port testified to at first believing Oruitemeka was faking being unresponsive because of his behaviour just prior while in the police cruiser.
“This stuff happens really fast,” said retired Staff Sgt. William Boote. “A person coming in in that state is the norm, not a one off. These guys crash very, very fast. For a person to get their head around it or thinking it's excited delirium from cocaine ingestion or thinking it’s anything else, this stuff happens extremely fast.”
Other officers testified to seeing Oruitemeka breathing, his eyes fluttering, and muscle movements.
Const. Lars Holt, who retired in 2016 from the Thunder Bay Police Service, said he was shocked when he heard Oruitemeka was vital signs absent.
“The biggest thing I regret not doing overall is checking his pulse,” Holt said. “I made a huge assumption that I could see a guy breathing, his eyes opening, little movements here and there and make the assumption his heart is beating. If I would have gotten down a minute earlier, five minutes earlier, and checked his pulse, things might have been different.”
Mulligan also testified that he did not check Oruitemeka’s pulse because he observed he was still breathing. He added that there was also concern for officer safety because it was a weapons call and Oruitemeka was unknown to police.
“But again, as I indicated previously, we did witness him still breathing,” Mulligan said. “So going any closer to assess further, there was no wounds, no broken bones, we saw the airway was unobstructed. So at that point, it was waiting for EMS to arrive.”
The officers that testified also referred to their first-aid training, which instructs not to initiate CPR on a patient that is still breathing.
But advanced care paramedic Jeff Monas, who responded to the police headquarters on Feb. 12, 2014, testified that Oruitemeka was exhibiting agonal breathing.
“Agonal respiration is respirations that are inadequate to sustain life but appear as though the patient is breathing on their own,” Monas testified on Monday.
“They are breathing on their own, but this is not the breathing of a conscious person’s rate or depth. It is the breathing of an inadequate brain. There are parts of the brain responsible for breathing but not adequately. We must ventilate over them.”
Monas’ assessment of Oruitemeka determined his airway was not obstructed but he did not have adequate breathing or an adequate pulse, meaning blood was not being pumped to his brain.
Because the actual cardiac arrest was not witnessed, Monas said it was not possible to determine when it happened.
Monas will continue his testimony on Tuesday.
