Passengers questioning GO Transit response times after rider suffers medical episode

Concerns are being raised at the response times and safety protocols of GO Transit after a young woman suffered a medical episode on a Union Station-bound train Tuesday morning.

The incident left other passengers scrambling for a way to assist her however they could.

Witnesses tell CityNews not a single GO Transit employee attended their train car in the 20 minutes between when they alerted employees and when the train arrived at Union Station, despite ongoing calls for help.

The incident happened around 7:30 a.m. on a jam-packed train heading westbound from Eglinton Station to Union.

Laura Matte, a CityNews employee who also witnessed the incident, said the woman passed out shortly after the train left Eglinton.

“She fainted and could not open her eyes, could not hold her head up. She couldn’t speak,” explained Matte. “And then the woman who was next to her was physically holding her head up to make sure that she wasn’t collapsing.”

Amid the commotion, fellow passengers hit the yellow emergency strip and began calling out for someone with medical experience. A woman believed to be a nurse began tending to the patient.

“People were pressing that yellow emergency button, and it was announced on the train that coach 2715 would have medical personnel come and assess the situation,” explained Christina Ntroulias, who was also on board the train. “We gave it a bit, but nothing happened.”

Another passenger texted then the phone number GO Transit encourages riders to text in an emergency.

“So she texted that number, and they said, ‘Yes, we’ve got somebody on their way,’ and then somebody else called the phone number that’s provided, and they said there’s just so many people on the train we’re having a hard time getting through the train,” added Matte.

Witnesses say the woman’s condition did not improve, and knowing the severity of the situation had been relayed multiple times to GO Transit officials, they thought help would be waiting at the next stop.

“We expected somebody to be waiting there and just to rush onto the train and help this woman, and there was no one there for her,” Matte said.

“I was expecting a paramedic, at least, waiting for us when the doors opened. I was expecting someone from the GO Transit system to be coming in to look at what happened or to see and assess her,” added Ntroulias.

CityNews has confirmed Toronto paramedics did not receive a call about this medical emergency.

The passenger assisting the young woman stayed with her on the train at Union Station, waiting for help to arrive.

Metrolinx, the agency that operates GO Transit, said medics and officers did attend the scene and the woman was assessed and able to walk away on her own.

They did not answer any questions about overcrowding concerns or why the train did not stop at the nearest station. Metrolinx said the case is being reviewed to ensure that appropriate actions were taken in a timely manner at Union Station.