The following story contains details which some readers may find distressing. See the bottom of this story for information on available supports.
The Whitehorse Emergency Shelter has been the site of 55 overdoses since October 2022, three of which resulted in death.
This information came to light on April 22 through testimony from a senior manager at the shelter during the coroner’s inquest into the deaths of four Indigenous women at the facility.
A publication ban protects the senior manager’s identity.
“I can share that there have been 55 overdoses that have been responded to by Connective staff. Of those 55, there were three overdose deaths,” the senior manager told the inquest, clarifying that the number of overdose deaths depends on how you define overdose deaths.
(Connective operates the Whitehorse Emergency Shelter with the Council of Yukon First Nations, often abbreviated as CYFN.)
The inquest previously heard testimony that between 2020 and 2022, the shelter experienced 144 overdoses, three resulting in death.
The coroner’s inquest began on April 8. It is looking into the deaths of four Indigenous women at the emergency shelter in Whitehorse in 2022 and 2023. The deaths being probed are those of Cassandra Warville, Myranda Aleisha Dawn Tizya-Charlie, Josephine Elizabeth Hager and Darla Skookum.
In addition to shedding light on more recent overdose numbers, the senior manager’s testimony touched on staff training, procedures and policy changes.
In the early minutes of the senior manager’s testimony, she was asked if there were guidelines to help emergency shelter staff identify when guests are “beyond the level of care manageable by the shelter.”
The senior manager responded there were no guidelines because it was “a broad subject” and responses depended on the situation and individual involved.
Later, the senior manager was asked about possible repercussions for shelter staff who do not follow first-aid principles or shelter policies and practices. She noted that such behaviour would first be viewed as a teaching moment rather than a performance issue.
“I do want to acknowledge that when staff are in very critical and traumatic situations, we recognize that people are human beings and can react differently. And I’m not speaking about any specific situation, just in general. So, if we were reviewing something where we had concerns from a first-aid perspective, we would mostly look at that as a teaching and a coaching moment…before treating it as a performance management concern,” the senior manager told the inquest.
She confirmed the emergency shelter does not hold emergency overdose drills, a point that was raised during previous testimony from front-line shelter workers earlier in the inquest. However, she said overdose drills are being worked towards.
The senior manager also addressed the behaviour of shelter staff on the night Skookum died, April 15-16, 2023. In surveillance footage previously aired during the inquest, Skookum can be seen being transferred by shelter workers from a wheelchair to a mattress on the floor, where she is laid on her stomach.
Once on the mattress, her head appears to go face-down into her pillow, and she is not seen moving again until she is found the following morning — roughly 12 hours after being put to bed.
In her testimony, the senior manager acknowledged that the shelter staff’s transfer of Skookum from the wheelchair to the mattress “did not look like it went smoothly.” She also acknowledged that putting someone to sleep in the recovery position — on their side — is “the most ideal position,” although there can be other considerations based on the situation.
“In the context of first-aid training, individuals are taught to put people in the recovery position when they’re in situations where they’re unconscious or in medical distress. So, when it comes to supporting individuals that are otherwise conscious, there are considerations that need to be made in terms of consent, autonomy and both the individual comfort level of the person putting the person to bed as well as the person who’s being put to bed. And so that situation can differ depending on who’s involved or what the situation is,” she said.
During cross-examination, the senior manager also confirmed the only policy change made following Skookum’s death was the introduction of a bed check policy.
The inquest previously heard that three nightly checks — at 11 p.m., 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. — were implemented in the wake of Skookum’s passing.
The inquest’s testimony phase is anticipated to draw to a close later this week.
The six-person jury will then begin deliberations.
The jurors are tasked with ascertaining the identity of the deceased individuals, the time and place of their deaths, and the causes of death. Jurors are also asked to classify the deaths — natural, accidental, suicide, homicide or undetermined manners of death — and submit recommendations to prevent similar fatalities, if appropriate.
Coroner’s inquests are not an adversarial process or trial and are not intended to assign blame.
READ MORE: ‘We are quite sorry’: Emergency shelter staffer apologizes during inquest
Rapid access counselling is available in the Yukon from Mental Wellness and Substance Use Services by calling 867-456-3838. Additional support includes the Suicide Crisis Helpline (call or text 988), Hope for Wellness (1-855-242-3310) and the 24-Hour Residential School Survivor Crisis Line (1-866-925-4419). The Selkirk First Nation, the Little Salmon/Carmacks First Nation and the Vuntut Gwitchin Government are offering counselling and support specifically for their citizens.
Contact Matthew Bossons at matthew.bossons@yukon-news.com