Bear mace attack victim's family wants apology from Flin Flon hospital

The family of an 18-year-old woman who was attacked with bear mace in Flin Flon, Man., wants a public apology from local health officials over the way she and her friends were treated in hospital.

The victim was with two other females, age 17 and 19, on Aug. 10 when a man approached them at a beach in Flin Flon and sprayed them in the face with bear mace.

The RCMP confirmed that Creighton detachment officers received a call at 11:53 p.m. on Aug. 10 about a robbery and assault with a weapon at Denare Beach.

A male youth opened the door of a vehicle and tried to rob the people inside, then sprayed bear spray inside the vehicle, a police spokesperson said.

The woman said after the incident, she and her friends ran for help and a family member rushed them to the Flin Flon hospital.

Once they arrived, however, the trio had to wait outside for more than 40 minutes before they were seen, she said.

"We ran back down the ramp because the heat between the two doors was too much to handle because by this time our bodies were burning right from our toes to head," the 18-year-old woman, who did not want to be identified, told CBC News in an interview Sunday.

The woman said her aunt then spoke to hospital officials, who told her that if the three victims took off their swimsuits and put robes on, they could then be allowed to take a shower in the hospital, one at a time.

"I was extremely frustrated and upset," the woman said.

"I wasn't getting the help I felt I should have had, and I didn't like that not a doctor nor a nurse came out and even told us this."

The woman's family said hospital officials apologized to them privately for not having a proper decontamination protocol in place. However, her mother told CBC News she wants a public apology.

Meanwhile, the woman said she doesn't want anyone else to go through what she had to experience.

Hospital doesn't have decontamination area yet

A spokesperson with the Northern Health Region would not comment on specific incidents, citing privacy concerns.

However, the spokesperson said hospital protocol requires people who show up at the Flin Flon General Hospital, after being sprayed with bear mace or pepper spray, to be kept outside the emergency department while they wait for decontamination.

"We currently do not have a decontamination area in the Flin Flon ER department. Therefore, the treatment needs to take place outside the facility," the spokesperson said in an email Monday.

The treatment usually involves having the patient remove any contaminated clothing, washing the affected area with mild soap and water, and being in a well-ventilated area.

"Our new ER department will have a decontamination area so that this initial treatment can occur within the facility. It is one of the many improvements Flin Flon and area residents will benefit from once the new ER is built," the spokesperson said.

RCMP say the male youth has been charged with one count of robbery, three counts of assault with a weapon, one count of possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose, one count of unauthorized possession of a prohibited weapon and three counts of not complying with a court-ordered undertaking. He is scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday.