N.B. news: Death inquest goes to jury deliberations [Video]

After roughly two hours of deliberations, the five jurors in the coroner’s inquest looking into the death of Darrell Mesheau have ruled he died in a natural manner, with the cause being heart failure.

The 78-year-old former diplomat died after waiting almost seven hours in the waiting room of the Dr. Everett Chalmers Hospital emergency department. He had arrived at the hospital by ambulance, saying he was short of breath and weak, with little appetite.

Jurors heard he was triaged as level three and moved to the waiting room, where his vitals were not regularly checked. Nurses working that evening shared accounts of an overcrowded emergency department, where beds were entirely full – mostly with patients that should have been in other areas of the hospital.

They were also short-staffed, and said they didn’t have time to regularly check the vitals of those in the waiting room.

Jurors made three recommendations:

• That all health and government agencies collaborate …