John Barker
Northern News Services

Inuvik (Sep 20/02) - Three Aklavik men, whose bodies were found early Saturday in a boat beached on the Peel River about 20 minutes from the hamlet, died of carbon monoxide poisoning, the chief medical examiner of Alberta has confirmed.

Dr. Graeme Dowling, a forensic pathologist, conducted autopsies in Edmonton Tuesday on the bodies of Doug Irish, 50, Larry Semmler, 42, and Charlie Meyook, 32.

The autopsy results were released by Cathy Menard, the deputy chief coroner of the Northwest Territories, after she notified next of kin.

Irish, a longtime employee of Imperial Oil Resources, was also chairman of the Inuvik-based Inuvialuit Petroleum Corporation, a subsidiary of the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation (IRC), and a key player in the red-hot Beaufort Delta oil and gas exploration picture.

Aklavik has a population of 632. The men were all Anglicans. Funeral arrangements were incomplete at press time.

The men had gone out in the Peel River channel about 9:30 p.m. last Friday to collect firewood, Aklavik RCMP detachment commander Cpl. Bill Laidlaw said.

When they didn't return after a few hours, some boaters went looking for them. A man located the beached boat about 1:30 a.m. Saturday. All three men were found dead, sitting upright in the boat with no apparent injuries and no indication they drowned.

The engine was still running and a soft top canopy was snapped in place, Laidlaw said.

Now that Dowling has confirmed the men died of carbon monoxide poisoning, the jet boat's engine will be sent out by police for expert mechanical inspection to see if it was working properly, as part of the ongoing coroner's investigation, Laidlaw said.

Police did not locate any camp stove or other device onboard the boat that could account for carbon monoxide poisoning, Laidlaw said.

Menard said while the autopsies found the men died of carbon monoxide poisoning, it may take up three months for detailed toxicology test results in Edmonton to determine the exact composition and levels of the deadly, odourless gas in their blood at the time of death.

One of North America's leading experts on carbon monoxide poisoning told Inuvik Drum Tuesday that "the higher the level of carbon monoxide, the faster the loss of consciousness."

Dr. Jim Gallagher, professor of anesthesiology and chief of critical care medicine at the University of Florida's College of Medicine in Gainesville, said "carbon monoxide symptoms usually include a headache and nausea or vomiting. Drowsiness follows and then loss of consciousness."

When inhaled, carbon monoxide is absorbed quickly into the blood. It displaces oxygen by combining with the blood's oxygen-carrying molecule, hemoglobin, with a bond 240-times stronger than oxygen.

Victims who survive carbon monoxide poisoning are sometimes treated in a hyperbaric chamber, in which increased pressure helps to deliver higher concentrations of oxygen to the patient. The higher concentration of oxygen speeds the separation of carbon monoxide from the hemoglobin.

The higher the level of carbon monoxide inhaled, the less likely the victim is to experience warning symptoms, Gallagher said. Victims in that case will often losing consciousness rapidly without ever knowing what hit them.

Nellie Cournoyea, chair of the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation (IRC), said Tuesday, "For sure Doug (Irish) will be missed. He was a fine, kind, stable, and attentive person to his family and to his community. He was always aware of what was taking place around him and had the ability to communicate well with everyone."

Asked about Irish's input into the IRC, Cournoyea said, "Doug's insight and approach to resolving issues within the Inuvialuit organization will be greatly missed."

She said Irish, who worked for Imperial Oil Resources for more than 30 years, was planning to retire soon, but was going to stay on as chairman of the Inuvialuit Petroleum Corporation.

-- with a file from Nathan VanderKlippe