DETOX CENTRE NEEDED

What Chilliwack really needs is a detox centre that would allow police to
bring disoriented, apparently drunken or drugged people in for treatment
instead of taking them back to the detachment and putting them in the drunk
tank.

That's according to Dr. Donald Fritz, who was speaking at the inquest into
the death of Christopher Doyle, 45, in Chilliwack RCMP cells on March 29, 2002.

"If there was a detox unit in this city, my assumption is Christopher Doyle
would be alive today," said Fritz, who was treating Doyle at the Chilliwack
Mental Health Centre.

Fritz told the coroner's inquiry that the closest detox unit available is
in Vancouver, that there is also a detox centre in Kamloops and Kelowna,
but none of these would have helped local RCMP officers who arrested Doyle
after they found him sleeping on a city bench, firstly because they would
not have had jurisdiction to drive Doyle to Vancouver, and secondly because
there is a waiting list of 50 or 60 clients for each detoxification centre.
"It's ludicrous to talk about waiting six weeks to detox somebody," said
Fritz, who holds both masters and doctorate degrees in psychotherapy, and
who specializes in dealing with people with dual diagnosis of addiction and
mental health issues, "they need to be detoxed right now."

The best detox centre would be a medical unit, perhaps attached to the
hospital, staffed with doctors who could have daily access to the patients
and monitor their conditions. The second best would be a non-medical
facility, staffed by nurses and therapists, but visited by physicians. The
next best to that would be a home detox or alternative detox facility,
Fritz said.

"I realize we are some $4 billion in the hole and this is not likely to
happen, but if we want to keep people alive, it had better happen," Fritz said.

Fritz said police would not have known that Doyle was anything but drunk
when they picked him up last year. A member of the coroner's jury suggested
that people with problems such as those Doyle suffered should wear a
medical alert bracelet that would let police know about their conditions, a
suggestion that seemed to be promising to coroner Marj Paonessa.

Of Doyle, Fritz said his prognosis was not promising. People with his
problems-addiction and schizophrenia-frequently relapse and health
professionals have to understand that is part of the problem and the
process. In combination, it is very difficult to get treatment for both,
Fritz said. Often people like this "fall through the cracks." Doyle also
struggled with anger, related to his conditions, his childhood and his
failed marriage, Fritz said.

Asked by coroner's counsel Chris Godwin if he would be concerned about
Doyle taking medications that slow heart rate and breathing, Fritz said he
would be very concerned.

Dr. Norman Todd, a Chilliwack general practitioner, who treated Doyle in
the months leading up to his death, testified that he was unaware of
prescriptions Doyle was getting from other doctors, in combination with
drugs he was prescribing him. He said he wasn't aware that Doyle was an
addict or suffered from dual issues of mental health and addiction.

Todd also testified that previous to Doyle's death, he hadn't carefully
read notes about Doyle from Chilliwack Mental Health, which were in Doyle's
file.

The inquest into Doyle's death had just gotten started Thursday morning
when Fritz and Todd testified. First on the stand was Larry Uhrig, Doyle's
former employer in his carpet-laying business, his friend, and eventually,
his landlord.

Uhrig painted a picture of Doyle as a borderline schizophrenic who was
abusing drugs and alcohol to deal with the pain of his lost family.

"He was as close as a brother," said Uhrig, who gave testimony that Doyle
was disappointed in his marriage and divorce and distraught at not having
access to his three children. He also said that Doyle would combine alcohol
with prescription drugs and it wouldn't take much to lead him into trouble
in that situation.

However, in the time leading up to his death, Doyle was trying to put his
life back together. His children were getting older and he was hopeful that
once they reached 18 years of age, they would come and visit with him,
Uhrig said.

"He was a good person. He tried hard, but he had many problems," Uhrig
said. "He's in heaven right now. As far as I'm concerned. If anybody's in
heaven, he's first in line."