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FRIDAY, MARCH 24, 2006

Bed shortage traps patient in Mexico
by BERNICE TRICK Citizen staff A local family has been scrambling for days to have their loved one returned to Canada after he suffered several heart attacks in Mexico, but there has been no available ICU bed for him in Prince George or across B.C. Melanie Chretien told The Citizen her father-inlaw had seizures leading to heart attacks about two weeks ago during a visit to Puerto Vallarta. He was finally stable enough to return home on Monday, but the family wasn't able to find him a bed in B.C. until Thursday, when an ICU bed became available in St. Paul's Hospital in Vancouver. "He could have come home last Monday, and here it is Thursday," said Chretien in disbelief. "We are lucky because we happen to know people who work in St. Paul's and were able to arrange the transfer." She said the family grew more anxious every day as the medical bills began piling up in Mexico. Chretien said the costs now total about $70,000, including more than $30,000 for an air ambulance, $30,000 for hospital care and about $10,000 for accommodations and other miscellaneous costs. "We just have to hope it will all be covered," she said about the couple's travel insurance, but costs had to be paid up front and receipts submitted later. The patient, who Chretien did not want to name, was flown by Florida air ambulance, which flew to Mexico to pick him and his wife up and fly them to Vancouver. Although Chretien is glad her father-in-law is back in B.C., she feels strongly he should be at Prince George Regional Hospital, where family and friends are close by. "What was the point of putting in a new wing at the hospital if there's not enough staff to cover the beds? It's just crazy, and scary when it's life threatening," Chretien said. Mark Karjaluoto, director of communications for the Northern Health Authority, said ICU services are provided both locally and as part of a provincial network co-ordinated by B.C. Bedline. Karjaluoto explained patients needing a special level of care are often placed in a facility where they can receive the care appropriate for them. "We work with the Bedline to arrange that patients receiving care in another centre are able to come back home when they can receive appropriate care in their own community," Karjaluoto said. He noted ICU is always staffed "but there are a few times during the year, like spring break and Christmas, when we can't necessarily call in additional staff like we can at other times during the year." He said he isn't aware if staffing or specific care needs are factors in this case.

Family still hopeful about passengers' fate
by MARK NIELSEN Citizen staff Friends and family of the 100 Mile House couple believed to have gone down with the ship when the Queen of the North ferry sank near Prince Rupert continued to hope for the best Thursday. Gerald Foisy, 45, and Shirley Rosette, 44, both of 100 Mile House, were missing and presumed drowned more than a day after the ferry went under near Hartley Bay, a remote First Nations village about four hours into the ship's 15-hour trip through the Inside Passage to Port Hardy from Prince Rupert. Relatives of Rosette, a member of the Canoe Creek Indian Band, had gathered at her mother's home on the Dog Creek Indian Reserve, about 50 kilometres south of Williams Lake, where they waited confirmation on her fate. "We haven't heard anything yet," said her stepbrother, Pascal Rosette, who drove from Kamloops on Wednesday. Her son, 15-year-old Brent, said Rosette and Foisy -- they've been together for about two years -- had been in Terrace to visit family and then make their way south. He last talked to her just before they were to leave about plans to meet up in Vancouver. Upon hearing the news, Rosette's other son, 19-year-old Brandon, made the trip to Prince Rupert to keep tabs on the search. The mayor of 100 Mile House, Donna Barnett, said the couple isn't well-known around the community of 1,825 people, 328 kilometres south of Prince George, but their disappearance has been the talk of the town. "Of course everybody is hoping and praying that they are somewhere and they do show up and this is one of those miracle times," she

P soldier back .G. from Afghanistan
by FRANK PEEBLES Citizen staff A local solider who was firing 100-pound shells at Taliban forces in Afghanistan only days ago has returned to Prince George to await the birth of his second child. Gunner Tyson Shiels has been away from his wife Tera for more than a month fighting with the 1st Regiment, Royal Canadian Horse Artillery in Afghanistan. "We are basically disrupting the Taliban's movements," said Shiels, who graduated from Prince George secondary school in 2000. "If the Taliban attack, and they do attack, we respond, but we don't go looking for a fight, per se," said Shiels, who now lives at Canadian Forces Base Shilo, Man., the home of the Royal Canadian Artillery. "We go around the countryside trying to help the local people build their communities again. The war with Russia really did a lot of damage there, and the Taliban wasn't a government that did much to provide for the people. We are helping them build Submitted photo s c h o o l s a n d Gunner Tyson Shiels, a member of p r o v i d e s u p - the 1st Regiment, Royal Canadian plies. Horse Artillery and a Prince George " We 'll meet secondary school graduate, stands with village el- beside a captured Taliban artillery ders, their lead- piece. Shiels is back in the city for e r s , t o g e t a the birth of his second child. friendship going. We will sometimes have Afghan soldiers accompany us on missions so they get an idea how to do things because they haven't had a functional army in a while." Shiels is quick to point out that fighting is minimal and the bulk of their work is helping the Afghan population rebuilt the country after decades of war and dictatorship. He said while most Afghan people welcome the soldiers from around the world, there is still a well-armed and well-hidden enemy within the country. The Taliban "is like a big bully on the block," that uses violence and other forms of intimidation against the Afghan people to turn them against the westerners, he said. Most villagers want to dive in and work alongside the westerners, Shiels said, but if they do, the Taliban notice and will mark those villagers for punishment when the westerners leave. "The big fear of the Afghan people is that we will leave. If we do, the Taliban will be back in power in no time," Shiels said. That will mean a return to brutal dictatorship over the Afghan public and a return to the threat of more surprise terrorist attacks on westerners. "The Afghan people don't know who to trust," Shiels said. -- See MISSION page 3

CP photo

B.C. Ferries says two people, identified as Gerald Foisy and Shirley Rosette of 100 Mile House and shown in this undated handout photo are unaccounted for after the Wednesday sinking of the Queen of the North. B.C. Ferries was unable to find the two passengers and their family is still hoping they will be found alive.
said. "It's devastating to think of the worst, but we're all trying to think of the positive, that they did get in a fish boat or who knows what and they will all show up."

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Ferry authorities fear the worst
PRINCE RUPERT (CP) -- Two passengers are were below the ship's waterline and they awoke to now believed dead and questions are being raised find themselves chest-deep in sea water. "The crews have expressed stories where their about the safety of a B.C. ferry that sank after being cabins were filling up and if the wall adjacent to ripped open when hitting a rock. A day after the early, jubilant relief that all the them hadn't broken, they would have run out of vessel's passengers had been safely evacuated came space quickly," said Nathan Cullen, NDP MP for the news that two people may have gone down with area. Cullen and provincial NDP ferries critic Gary the ship. And there are stories of crew members wading Coons, who also represents the area, are backing union demands for an overhaul of safethrough waist-deep water to get out of their below-deck quarters. ty regulations, including the location of crew quarters. B.C. Ferries president David Hahn "It just said Thursday hopes that Gerald Foisy In the legislature, the NDP accused and Shirley Rosette were alive faded af- doesn't look the Liberal government of failing to take action to build new vessels. But Transter reports that they were among the good." rescued turned out to be false. portation Minister Kevin Falcon said "It's more looking for bodies at this -- David Hahn, B.C. Ferries is working to upgrade the point," Hahn said Thursday. president, fleet, including refitting 28 of 35 vessels. "The ship settled at around 1,400 B.C.Ferries As well, every vessel is certified by feet, so I think retrieval of the bodies is Transport Canada, he said. The Queen of the North received hers on March 2. going to be almost impossible at this The Queen of the North's refit included installing point and salvage of the ship, that would be an issue going forward. a new autopilot system. Hahn said he doesn't know why the ferry was off "It just doesn't look good." The Queen of the North sank early Wednesday course. "There is a GPS (global positioning system), an morning about an hour after striking a rock near Gil Island. The ship was four hours into its 15-hour automatic pilot, three radars, electronic charting, trip through the Inside Passage to Port Hardy from there was enough electronic information there that one would think this shouldn't happen," he said. Prince Rupert. -- See NO PROCEDURE page 3; Some off-duty crew faced their own fight for life column, page 4; related story, page 5 even before aiding the passengers. Their quarters

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INDEX
Ann Landers . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Bridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Business . . . . . . . . . . . . 22-24 City, B.C. . . . . . . . 3, 5, 13, 15 Classifi ed . . . . . . . . . . . 16-20 Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Coming Events . . . . . . . . . 34 Crossword . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Entertainment . . . . . . . 25-28 Horoscope . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Movies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Nation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,7 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8-12 World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Forestry coroner named
VANCOUVER (CP) -- A special coroner has been appointed to investigate deaths in the B.C. forest industry. Tom Pawlowski will look into all forest-related deaths and make recommendations aimed at preventing similar fatalities, chief coroner Terry Smith said Thursday. Pawlowski has been a coroner in the Vancouver area for the last year and has a background in forestry, including forest engineering.

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