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Booze use bugs coroner

Alcohol implicated in many accidental deaths

Kevin Wilson
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Mar 01/02) - While the NWT's chief coroner is "generally" satisfied his recommendations are being followed, concerns about alcohol abuse in the NWT remain high.

Percy Kinney released his 2000 annual report this week, several months later than he would have liked.

"It was a combination of some government bureaucracy, and just plain bad luck on our end," said Kinney, who had hoped to release it last summer.

Of the 78 deaths investigated in 2000, 18 were accidental deaths. Alcohol was a contributing factor in eight accidental deaths.

In one case, a 46-year-old man "suffered hypothermia and drowned" attempting to swim to shore after his jet boat ran out of fuel.

A post-mortem examination revealed the man had 350 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood, far above the legal limit of 0.8 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood for operating a motor vehicle.

"That's approaching a fatal amount of alcohol," said Kinney.

Alcohol abuse is also a factor in several of the suicides, homicides, and natural deaths investigated by his office.

In some of the natural deaths, the actual cause is chronic alcohol abuse, over a long period of time, he said.

Recommendations from coroner's reports and inquests are "generally being acted on."

For example, Kinney said the Department of Transportation promptly acted on a recommendation that snowplows use flashing beacons even on ice roads that are not open to the public. The change followed a coroner's report into an accident in which a 31-year-old man crashed into the back of a snowplow.

The report revealed the plow was not required to, "employ the use of a flashing beacon or alternating tail lights."

Kinney said, "that's one where Transportation implemented the recommendation almost immediately."

He added that, "for the most part, people are certainly willing to look at the issues," raised by his office.

"If they don't like our solutions, that's fine, as long as they have a solution they can propose to a problem," said Kinney.

The 2001 coroner's report is expected to be released this summer.