FL - Barbara Dawson, 57, dies after being arrested for refusing to leave hospital ER

But then they remove the cuffs, take her back inside (sounds like under her own power), she is re-admitted and THEN dies?

Don't really see how the family thinks this is LEs fault? They are called to remove a discharged patient. They do so. They then escort her back in when she complains of symptoms. What did LE do wrong here?
 
But then they remove the cuffs, take her back inside (sounds like under her own power), she is re-admitted and THEN dies?

Don't really see how the family thinks this is LEs fault? They are called to remove a discharged patient. They do so. They then escort her back in when she complains of symptoms. What did LE do wrong here?
Not enough info yet to really make a call as to what is going on here. I think they are just getting ahead of the game and trying to make sure there can be no claim of police brutality that caused her condition to deteriorate.

As of right now though, it appears that if anything, the hospital might have been negligent. I definitely will be watching to see how this progresses.

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But then they remove the cuffs, take her back inside (sounds like under her own power), she is re-admitted and THEN dies?

Don't really see how the family thinks this is LEs fault? They are called to remove a discharged patient. They do so. They then escort her back in when she complains of symptoms. What did LE do wrong here?

IF this is anything like what happened to me, MAYBE I can explain. Although don't take my case as gospel, it just sounds the same.

Okay, I couldn't breathe, I was seeing flashing lights, stars, woozy. Managed to get to hospital (someone drove me from work). Sat for a few minutes in emergency room. When they took my vitals, I was fine. Thing is, I wasn't fine. I was only fine when I sat STILL for a few minutes and my oxygen levels replenished themselves. The minute I had to get up and walk around or do much of anything, they plummeted - I believe I went to the mid seventies days later when someone who knew what they were doing checked me out. The mid seventies I'm told ain't good at all. Of course that did not happen in the hospital. In the hospital they gave me a B something shot and a breathing treatment and sent me home.

Well, on the way home the lights came back and I couldn't breathe again. I even worked like that for a few hours the next day until I had to leave or die - my body was telling me this loud and clear. Finally, one doctor had the good sense to walk me around with that thingee on my finger and it went off like a fire alarm. I did not have enough air.

Had I gone to the hospital, which I did, and they found nothing wrong and released me, which they did, but had me arrested for knowing there was really something wrong and refusing to leave, I would probably have died too from the movement and the stress of being arrested. I'm afraid, IF she had the same thing I did, that hospital, and the one I went to, didn't know their behinds from a hole in the wall. I'm lucky I survived.

Not saying this is what happened to her, but it sure sounds like what happened to me.

:cow:
 
I believe the hospital is 100% to blame for this; LE were only doing their job.

:cow:
 
Definitely the Hospital's fault. No fault lies with the officers. They were doing their job and I am sure they feel horrible about it. They are not doctors. They are not equipped with the medical training or the equipment to make sure this woman was okay. The Hospital was and they failed her miserably.

What a horrible way to die though. She knew something was terribly wrong and she was neglected and thrown aside. She must have felt so helpless. Sad.

ETA: Even IF there was nothing they could possibly do for her condition medically, her last moments on this earth should not have been treated so carelessly. We can argue that
they didn't know, but had they listened to her instead of pushing her aside, maybe her last moments would have been someone actually caring for her and making her last moments peaceful.

Again, the Hospital is to blame here.
 
I believe the hospital is 100% to blame for this; LE were only doing their job.

:cow:

I agree completely. LEOs are not qualified to make medical diagnoses. When they suspect that there are problems, their obligation is to call in the experts. In this case, the experts failed the patient/detainee. LE are pretty much victims here.

(And PS, sorry to hear about your story.)
 
I personally have had 2 pulmonary embolisms in the past 7 years. I went to the ER not being able to breathe. I am a nurse and they did not diagnose the pe right away and breathing was very difficult. Thank goodness I was admitted and received treatment. I can only imagine what this lady went through. She knew something was wrong but apparently the medical docs didn't listen to her. I feel 100 percent the hospital was to blame. We do not know if she was insured which should not play into her care but unfortunately money talks and does come into play how pts are treated. Such an unfair way to die especially when she wanted help and was denied. RIP.
 
This is medical incompetence at it’s worst. It sounds just like what happened to Edith Rodriguez. In that case the ER nurse was fired, and the entire hospital was eventually closed down permanently.

Which is what should happen in this case too. The staff that made the decision to release her should lose their right to practice medicine ever again, and the hospital should be closed down.

There should be no second chances for the hospital or the staff who were responsible. There is no excuse for this type of incompetence.

Death of Edith Rodriguez
 
But then they remove the cuffs, take her back inside (sounds like under her own power), she is re-admitted and THEN dies?

Don't really see how the family thinks this is LEs fault? They are called to remove a discharged patient. They do so. They then escort her back in when she complains of symptoms. What did LE do wrong here?

Well, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement was called in to investigate. They don’t usually have an investigation unless there are some questions that need to be answered.
 
Pulmonary emboli can't be diagnosed with a chest xray. IIRC, she was complaining of shortness of breath. If her pulse ox was good and vital signs stable, they gave her a breathing treatment and discharged her, the medical staff would have no way of knowing she had a PE. The doctors may have not suspected a PE and did not order a VQ scan. They are not done on every patient that complains of shortness of breath.

I don't think LE is to blame here either and I am not going to be quick to judge the ER staff either without more info. I worked as a RN in the ER for years and I can see how this could happen. Sometimes the staff gets jaded by having treated patients in the past that refused to leave for whatever reason.

I will say that if this patient continued to complain of shortness of breath and chest pain, she should not have been discharged and a further work up was warranted. She could have been placed in the hallway where she could be observed at the very least if they needed the stretcher/room.

For police to be called to remove a patient, that is typically done under extreme circumstances. I hate to say this, but belligerent, demanding, exhausting patients sometimes wear patience thin and keep the staff from attending to other patients. Not saying that this happened here, but that would be my guess as to why LE was called. IMOO
 
I imagine she was belligerent cuz of how she was feeling. I imagine if she was of a different social class she would have been treated differently.

Medical staff is over worked. Too bad most of our money for health insurance goes to insurance companies for their CEO salaries in the millions, beautiful buildings, fancy furniture, etc instead of the people who actually provide patient care.
 
I'm still trying to figure out how they missed a blood clot. Didn't they do any scans before her release? A lot of my family have had problems with clots, and they always do a scan before releasing them. SMH. I agree MJ. These cops had absolutely NOTHING to do with this poor soul's death. :(
 
Not making excuses but this is a very tiny hospital. 25 beds.
 
Pulmonary emboli can't be diagnosed with a chest xray. IIRC, she was complaining of shortness of breath. If her pulse ox was good and vital signs stable, they gave her a breathing treatment and discharged her, the medical staff would have no way of knowing she had a PE. The doctors may have not suspected a PE and did not order a VQ scan. They are not done on every patient that complains of shortness of breath.

I don't think LE is to blame here either and I am not going to be quick to judge the ER staff either without more info. I worked as a RN in the ER for years and I can see how this could happen. Sometimes the staff gets jaded by having treated patients in the past that refused to leave for whatever reason.

I will say that if this patient continued to complain of shortness of breath and chest pain, she should not have been discharged and a further work up was warranted. She could have been placed in the hallway where she could be observed at the very least if they needed the stretcher/room.

For police to be called to remove a patient, that is typically done under extreme circumstances. I hate to say this, but belligerent, demanding, exhausting patients sometimes wear patience thin and keep the staff from attending to other patients. Not saying that this happened here, but that would be my guess as to why LE was called. IMOO

I've seen chronic drunks/drug users who take up ER beds treated better than this woman was and she had a legitimate medical crisis. Heck, a lot of times the nurses and the drunks/drug abusers are on a first name basis with the staff.

And this is not directed at you, but if a nurse or doctor becomes so jaded that they're willing to throw their hands up and have every person arrested who refuses to leave the hospital because their bodies are telling them that something is seriously wrong... then they need a different profession. I am sure she was in great distress, panicking and felt helpless. I would be belligerent too.

As a matter of fact, I went to a Urgent Care Clinic ( it was closest and I was driving) once because I was having a panic attack (I didn't know what it was at the time) and I literally thought I was having a heart attack. I felt like I was dying. I was literally in such a state of panic that I couldn't form a coherent sentence. My arms and feet felt like they were breaking because they cramped up so tight and I was SCREAMING. The doctor got mad at me and said "I can't do anything for you" and stormed out of the room which made it WORSE.

An ambulance showed up and my mom showed up at the same time. My mom overheard the doctor telling the ambulance worker that she thought I was on drugs (I've never done drugs in my LIFE... not even marijuana). The EMS that attended to me KNEW what was going on, gave me oxygen and an EKG (just in case) and helped to calm me down by telling me to start counting and breathing. He took his time with me until I was counting slow enough and my cramping subsided. He did tell my mom that she should take me to the hospital because my pulse and blood pressure was elevated. I went through 3 more panic attacks that day (I don't even KNOW what triggered them... and still don't know) and my blood pressure and pulse was so HIGH during each one. I was admitted into the hospital and they were all very nice... gave me a prescription to make it through the weekend until I could get with my primary physician.

Of course they tested my blood for drugs (NEGATIVE) and my mom made it a point to go back to the Urgent Care Clinic and speak with the doctor directly about how unkind and accusing she was being towards me. My mom was also a nurse.

So, I understand how it feels to be so helpless and for someone to just brush you off because they are jaded.
 
Pulmonary emboli can't be diagnosed with a chest xray. IIRC, she was complaining of shortness of breath. If her pulse ox was good and vital signs stable, they gave her a breathing treatment and discharged her, the medical staff would have no way of knowing she had a PE. The doctors may have not suspected a PE and did not order a VQ scan. They are not done on every patient that complains of shortness of breath.

I don't think LE is to blame here either and I am not going to be quick to judge the ER staff either without more info. I worked as a RN in the ER for years and I can see how this could happen. Sometimes the staff gets jaded by having treated patients in the past that refused to leave for whatever reason.

I will say that if this patient continued to complain of shortness of breath and chest pain, she should not have been discharged and a further work up was warranted. She could have been placed in the hallway where she could be observed at the very least if they needed the stretcher/room.

For police to be called to remove a patient, that is typically done under extreme circumstances. I hate to say this, but belligerent, demanding, exhausting patients sometimes wear patience thin and keep the staff from attending to other patients. Not saying that this happened here, but that would be my guess as to why LE was called. IMOO

Well, in this case, the jaded nurse's patience wearing thin may have caused a woman to suffer greatly and unnecessarily before dying in an awful manner. That's a complete failure of the professional duties and responsibilities of a medical professional, IMO.
 
Well, in this case, the jaded nurse's patience wearing thin may have caused a woman to suffer greatly and unnecessarily before dying in an awful manner. That's a complete failure of the professional duties and responsibilities of a medical professional, IMO.
Just want to say that nurses do not diagnose patients, nor issue orders of discharge. These are physician responsibilities, and do not fall under the scope of nursing. We have nursing diagnosis, but it is not the same as a medical diagnosis. This falls on the physician, not the nurse, IMO.
 
I have been very lucky as far as not spending any time in a hospital as a patient. I have for the past twenty yrs been there many times as a member of family for various family members. I know my way around the hospital better than some of the newer staff.
I would say my experiences as far as staff have been half and half.
Some are so lovely and caring you wonder how they do it,and some so indifferent and dismissive you struggle on the patients behalf for a pillow or a cup of ice chips.
I think we have to look at this from the perspective of the patient and family.
A little detail to hopefully put this into perspective of how a patient or family may be seen as belligerent/angry or demanding in a hospital setting.
Family member had been to the ER 5 times within a two week period.
The last time was within an hour after he had been released and he had to go back.
Why did he have to go back...because the previous treatment didn't address his medical needs.
We had been there several hours and when released it was 4am. At 5am we are again sitting in the ER with patient still in severe pain.
Now after several hours of previously sitting on hard chairs,trying to convey medical issues to staff, and zero sleep and after driving home in the bitter cold we have to turn around and go through it all again.
I'm met with a nurse outside his room who informed me that the reason my family member is back is that he has communication issues and the doctor wasn't informed of the events leading up to his previous visit an hour ago.
I knew this wasn't true and had in fact informed the doctor myself of what had transpired that led him to being in the ER. I had heard my family member do the same of every staff member he had encountered.
She was very condescending and looked down at me with her glasses on the tip of her nose. She kept calling me Ma'am which normally wouldn't set me off but she had a tone and attitude and I knew she was wrong.
This went on for a while and I knew I was getting steamed so I threw my hands in the air and said I will be back. As I was walking away she was still ma'am *ing* me with that tone and still patient blaming so I turned around and said rather loudly 'don't pi** on me and tell me it's raining"
Not a big deal but out of character for me to lose it to that extent.
On my part it was lack of sleep and frustration and anger that she wouldn't take responsibility for having been part of the team that had sent him home an hour earlier.
Turns out that the medical records reflected that the doctor did in fact know the events that led up to family member being in the hospital so she totally lied.
I'm pretty sure I would be viewed as belligerent after that and I fully expected to be met with security for my little melt down.
So IMO sometimes you have to demand and be firm and be what might be considered belligerent.
You or your loved ones health might depend on it.
I don't fault this woman for trying to insist she get the care she knew she needed. It's a shame she wasn't sent to another hospital since this one couldn't or wouldn't help her.
 
Florida Cops Thought Dead Black Woman Was Faking After Being Kicked Out Of Hospital

Barbara Dawson
10274327_939830496099927_4998624843315880372_n.jpg


Authorities are investigating the death of a 57-year-old Florida woman who was treated at a hospital but complained of other issues and eventually died as she collapsed and tussled with police.

Police thought Barbara Dawson was “making herself dead weight” to avoid going to jail, according to a police report released Monday, writes The Associated Press. She was ordered to leave Calhoun Liberty Hospital in Blountstown, Florida on Dec. 2., but refused to do so after noting she wasn’t feeling well, notes the report.

Police soon arrived to arrest her for disorderly conduct. Dawson collapsed during the struggle and died 90 minutes later from a blood clot in her lungs.

The police assumed that Dawson’s antics were a ruse to avoid arrest. In the reports taken by a Blountstown police officer, it was written that Dawson appeared not to be suffering any health malady and breathing well ahead of her collapse, writes The AP.

http://newsone.com/3310460/florida-...as-faking-after-being-kicked-out-of-hospital/
 

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