Court hears David Stephan declined ambulance after son Ezekiel initially stopped breathing

On Tuesday, June 4, Co-Crown Prosecutor Joshua Chan played the approximately four-minute call in the courtroom. It began with now-retired 9-1-1 call taker Carroll Moore asking the caller what the emergency was.

“My son’s not breathing, my son’s not breathing,” says the caller.

Moore then asked whether the call was coming from a cell phone or land line; the caller said it was a cell phone. An address request followed, to which the caller said he was in Glenwood, Alberta and gave Moore his telephone number. He went outside to check his address and returned to the phone.

Moore asked if the child was choking, to which the caller said his son has been sick “for a little while.” He then said his wife was with the child, and that the child had been sleeping a lot.

A few seconds later, the caller told the 9-1-1 operator that his son appeared to be better, that he was breathing on his own, and that no one was giving him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

He again said the child had been suffering from croup for a week and then he “just went downhill again.” However, Moore asked whether an ambulance was needed for the child, and the caller said, “I’ll give you guys a call back; he’s feeling better.”

Moore was then asked to point out who the caller was and pointed to David Stephan.

Chan also asked why an ambulance was not sent to the Stephan household.

“If they decline an ambulance, we can’t send one,” she said. “They declined the ambulance…I offered to send one.”

During cross examination, David Stephan asked whether an ambulance was available, and how long it may have taken for it to dispatch.

Moore told him, because she was solely the call-taker, she didn’t know whether one was available, or how long it would have taken to get to the home. She also mentioned that because the ambulance was declined, the couple’s address was never entered into dispatch.

He also asked why he didn’t receive any guidance from Moore on the telephone.

“You didn’t see a reason to guide me?”

Moore told Stephan, “You said the baby was breathing by the time you got the address and went back to the house.”

Second 9-1-1 call

Just before 10 p.m. the same night, another 9-1-1 call was made as the Stephans were on their way to Cardston. According to the caller, at that point, Ezekiel had stopped breathing and had lost consciousness. The 9-1-1 call, played in court, lasted approximately 11 minutes.

According to the call, David was driving the family vehicle, Collet was in the back of the vehicle with Ezekiel, and what sounded like another child, and 9-1-1 call taker/communications specialist Joel McDonald was at the other end of the line.

He identified David Stephan as the caller through testimony at the first trial, and because other EMS co-workers had identified him.

During the call, David asked McDonald for an ambulance to meet the family on Highway 2.

“Baby. Stopped breathing. He’s not choking,” he says in the call.

“My wife is doing CPR on the baby right now,” he continued.

The cell phone was put on speaker then, as McDonald directed Collet to perform two breaths on the toddler, followed by 30 compressions or pumps.

During cross-examination, David asked whether proper protocol had been followed, for someone in cardiac arrest, someone who may be choking or if someone had fluid in their lungs.

“I followed protocol that was presented to me at the time,” answered McDonald.

Ambulance Transport

Paramedic Kenneth Cherniawsky was then called to testify for the Crown about what happened after the Stephan’s met the ambulance on Highway 2.

He testified that a 9-Delta call had come in, and that one ambulance was already out on a call; he and his partner were the second ambulance and it took four minutes to get prepared to leave to meet the Stephans.

Once the ambulance met the Stephan’s vehicle, he observed Ezekiel on his back with Collet beside him. His skin colour was pale and ashen, he was not moving or breathing.

Cherniawsky then picked up the child and took him to the waiting ambulance and found no pulse. A Glasgow Coma Scale test performed on the child indicated a low rating of 3 out of 15, meaning there was no verbal, eye or motor function.

An ECG machine was hooked up to the child which showed an asystole rhythm – or flatline, however he was not declared dead.

Cherniawsky then told the court he and another paramedic tried using a BBM -or type of bag and mask to ventilate the child, however they did not have the correct size and the mask would not seal.

An LMA or laryngeal mask was tried next, and again, it too was the incorrect size for the toddler.

Finally, the child was intubated, however the ambulance was not supplied with the correct intubator size either.

CPR compressions continued until the ambulance arrived at the Cardston hospital, saline was given through his leg, and blood glucose levels were measured.

Ezekiel did not regain a pulse again until after he arrived at the hospital and was given epinephrine.

Cherniawsky testified that STARS air ambulance in Calgary had been called, however the helicopter could not land in Cardston, and the toddler had to be transported to Lethbridge for pickup.

Naturopathic Dr. Testifies

Earlier in the morning, naturopathic Dr. Tracey Tannis testified that in early March 2012, her then receptionist Lexi Vataman told her there was a call about a baby with viral meningitis.

Vataman approached Tannis, who told her that the child should be taken to emergency right away.

It was sometime after that, that a woman “with long sandy brown or blond hair,” came to the clinic to purchase an over the counter echinacea based tincture called “Blast.”

Tannis testified, both when questioned by the Crown and upon cross-examination, that she could not independently recall many details, because of the length of time that had past, however, the tincture could be purchased by anyone over the counter and did not require a consultation or a diagnosis.

As David Stephan cross-examined her, he asked whether online threats or social media backlash towards her or her business had anything to do with the way she had answered her questions.

“I think a lot of people felt threatened back in 2016 by the case,” she said.

“Does that have any bearing on your answers?” asked David Stephan.

“I’m just honest,” she said. “I don’t know what more you want me to say.”

The trial continues Wednesday.

by Lara Fominoff

Court hears David Stephan declined ambulance after son Ezekiel initially stopped breathing

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