It started off as a quiet ride on Sunday afternoon in early December on the Lakeshore East GO Transit train for Toronto resident Serena Mack, but the silence was interrupted more than 30 minutes into the ride by a dog barking.
“There were not many people on board. I was heading from Danforth to Oshawa to visit family,” she said.
“I was startled at first and then realized this was a service dog alerting that their owner was having a seizure.”
Mack said she quickly went to the woman and saw she was in extreme distress before activating the GO Transit train emergency alarm system.
“I know that the emergency alarm had been pressed successfully because I heard my car name over the announcements and a really loud, annoying beep,” she said.
Mack also said she called 911 and while on the phone with dispatchers realized the train was just about to pull into the Whitby GO Station.
“I told them to send paramedics to the Whitby station and they were in the process of doing that,” she said.
Then, much to Mack’s surprise, she said the train started moving again after a brief stop in Whitby.
Still on the phone with 911, who was in the process of sending paramedics to Whitby, Mack said she had to tell them to reroute to Oshawa, the next stop.”
“That was when the first train staff member came up and asked, ‘Hey, what’s going on?’ and I was like, ‘This person is having seizures, you need to stop this train,’” she said.
As the train continued moving east, Mack said the staff member returned with a first aid kit and a defibrillator but the woman appeared to be regaining consciousness by the time he got back.
“Then the staff member just leaves again and then the passenger starts having a second seizure on the way to Oshawa,” she said.
Mack said she stayed with the woman until the train reached Oshawa and by the time they arrived, she had come out of her second seizure.
“I escorted the woman off the train and GO train staff were there to meet with her while we waited for paramedics to arrive,” she said.
“That’s when I asked the staff member, ‘Why did we leave Whitby station? Like I pressed the alarm before the station,’ and her response was, ‘You should call someone about that,’ so I did.”
Mack said she called and emailed multiple times, finally getting a call back nearly two weeks later after escalating her concerns to the Metrolinx board.
“It was a good conversation and she admitted that there were some communication gaps but that their operations policies do allow for the train to continue on in an emergency, which I can understand,” she said.
“Some emergencies can wait but my issue is they didn’t know what the emergency was before they made the decision to leave, and that is not OK.”
Speakers Corner reached out to Metrolinx, the provincial transportation agency that oversees GO Transit, and a spokesperson said the incident has been carefully investigated.
“We can confirm that the established emergency response process was followed, including immediate notification to our network control centre and coordination with local emergency services,” the spokesperson said.
They want on to thank Mack for her response, care, composure, and leadership she demonstrated.
While appreciated, Mack said she isn’t looking for gratitude and feels Metrolinx needs to revisit its emergency response policy.
“As far as I know, the woman survived and got the help she needed but this could’ve been much worse. What if this had been more serious?” she said.
“Also, nobody ever talked with me or investigated after the fact to see what happened and that’s a bit concerning.”
This isn’t the first time Metrolinx has come under fire for issues with emergency alarms.
In March, CityNews reported on another medical emergency alert on a train en route to Union Station. Passengers said it was not addressed.
“This is, in my mind, a pretty major issue, but even minor issues do need to be addressed in a timely fashion. I love public transit and will continue to use it, but I’m speaking out to make sure this doesn’t happen again,” she said.
“I felt very alone trying to help this woman and felt there was little being done by staff to address it.”
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