Our March Speaker: Dr. Jim Cairns– Former Chief Deputy Coroner for the Province of Ontario
Dr. Cairns was the guest presenter at our March 12 meeting. Some of his background is outlined below:
Dr. Cairns received his Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery and Bachelor of Obstetrics in 1969. He received his Diploma in Obstetrics from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, London England in 1972 and received his College of Physicians and surgeons of Ontario Licence in 1973 after emigrating to Canada in 1972.
He was a Coroner for the Province of Ontario from 1979-1991 and was appointed to the position of Deputy Chief Coroner for the province in 1991. He was an associate professor in forensic sciences at the University of Toronto in 2000.
He has lectured regularly on death scene investigations, forensic medicine and the role of the Coroner’s Office in Ontario to many professional groups and clubs.
He presented a detailed slide show presentation of a trip to Cuba in 1991 with a team of professionals. The main purpose was to investigate the suspicious death of an Ontario resident who was on holiday in Cuba and died. The team worked closely with the Cuban medical professionals to review their findings, documentation and the cause of death of this individual. This was a consultative process so after the team finished their work in six days and was able to enjoy the weather, hospitality and culture of Cuba. Dr. Cairns noted that Cuba is a communist country and the team had to take certain precautions to respect the integrity of their investigation as well as their own personal privacy. They met several generals and even Fidel Castro! He noted that professional information re the investigation was shared on the beach or in the ocean.
He shared with us that autopsies were performed in Cuba and Ontario, however. He noted that there was a wide discrepancy in the blood alcohol count in the Cuban autopsy report compared to the Ontario coroner’s report. Dr. Cairns followed up with this major difference with the pathologist and the toxicologist in Toronto and the result was that the Toronto forensic lab had state of the art equipment to use but the lab in Cuba was using equipment from the 1950s era. This was the reason for getting a different result. The autopsy report and recommendations were shared with the Toronto police department and the attorney general’s office.
Dr. Cairn’s presentation was balanced between forensic science and his sense of humor! He stayed for the entire meeting and was available to answer many questions. His presentation was very interesting.
Submitted by Larry O’Donnell