The parents of a teacher who died while supervising students on a field trip last May say their daughter should never have been out that day because it was too hot.

Darcee Gosselin, a 40-year-old teacher at John Taylor Collegiate, was on a field trip in the Spirit Sands area of the Spruce Woods Provincial Park when she collapsed and died.

"It was very, very hot that day, like close to around 40 I believe in the desert or hotter, and apparently she collapsed and she died of heat stroke," said Vicki Gosselin, Darcee's mother.

The trip involved going on a hike through the desert area of the park with Grade 11 and 12 students. Gosselin went along as a chaperone. The heat broke records that day, reaching 33.3 C in Carberry, which is 26 kilometres north of the park.

Exact temperatures in the park that day aren't known, but the family says others who were there told them it was around 40 C.

'We were in shock'

Gosselin says she and her husband, Perry, received a call that day that something had happened to their daughter. When they arrived at the Carberry hospital where Darcee had been taken, they were met by two RCMP officers.

"[They] told us that they thought our daughter had had a heart attack, and she hadn't made it, she had died," Vicki Gosselin said. "We were in shock, we thought 'no, this can't be happening.'"

They were told the true cause of her death the next day.

"There was an autopsy the next day and the medical examiner phoned and said she had died of heat stroke and it was totally preventable, they shouldn't have been out there in that heat," Vicki Gosselin said. Darcee Gosselin was teacher at John Taylor Collegiate. She was 40 years old when she died from heat stroke on school field trip. (Holly Caruk/CBC)

The couple would like to see changes to school policies when it comes to field trips, especially when heat is a factor.

The St. James School Division says there are policies in place when it comes to field trip safety, and the policy posted on their website refers to guidelines put in place by Workplace Safety and Health (WSH).

The school division said it "respectfully declines to comment further regarding this tragic situation."

Guideline for field trips

A spokesperson for Education Minister Ian Wishart said in an email that Manitoba Education and Training has a guideline for field trips that was developed several years ago, and it's available to all school divisions.

"It covers risk assessment considerations for outdoor pursuits, including body temperature control, and the importance of preventing, recognizing and treating heat stroke and heat exhaustion," the spokesperson wrote.

Vicki Gosselin says whatever policies were in place that day either aren't good enough or weren't being followed.

"There's lots of policies for cold, cold weather, but for hot weather, they keep saying about the humidex [humidity index]. Well, this was just temperature that was very hot, and we want some policies put in place that you don't go out in this," she said.

"She just went all out, and the kids loved her." - Vicki Gosselin

Weather records for that day show that while the temperatures were in the mid-30s, humidity was low and there was no measurable humidex.

The family also says they were told another field trip that day involving the same school was cancelled because of the heat.

"They were headed to a desert, where there was no shade, no trees … they never should have gone," said Perry Gosselin, Darcee's father.

The Gosselins say their daughter raised concerns about the heat the night before, but didn't want to back out because she didn't want to disappoint the students.

Family awaiting final report

They say she was well prepared with a hat, water, and cucumbers for extra hydration. She also had a wet towel in a plastic bag in her backpack for cooling off.

The Gosselins want people to know the truth about how their daughter died. They say they've been given some information from WSH, but are still waiting for the final report.

They say their daughter was a devoted teacher who loved her job and went above and beyond for her students.

"She loved it. She was the kind of teacher … you'd want your kid to have," Vicki Gosselin said.

The parents of a teacher who died while supervising students on a field trip last May say their daughter should never have been out that day because it was too hot. 1:59

"She went out of her way. She would stay at lunch and help kids, she was in charge grad, she did volleyball, she did drama. She just went all out, and the kids loved her."

The couple have consulted a lawyer about what happened and are hoping to see something done that would change policy.

"We feel that had it been a student, it would have been entirely different," Vicki Gosselin said.

"We want policies in place for this, we don't want this to happen again. It's a horrible thing to have to live through."