Monday, November 24, 2014

Florida Cops Arrest Man For Having Stroke While Driving; Man Dies After Lying Untreated On Jail Floor For 36 Hours | Alas, a Blog

Florida Cops Arrest Man For Having Stroke While Driving; Man Dies After Lying Untreated On Jail Floor For 36 Hours | Alas, a Blog: "Apparently paramedics did examine Hicks at the scene, but did not identify any physical problems, although they did recommend he be taken to a hospital for psychiatric evaluation. He was instead taken to jail. The two paramedics “were verbally counseled on how to better handle similar incidents in the future.”

Apparently everyone at the scene assumed that “drunk/drugged and crazy” was the best available explanation for why a middle-aged man crashed his car, was confused, had slurred speech, and was completely weak on one side of his body, and the possibility that he had a stroke wasn’t even considered. (Honestly, I feel a little bit of sympathy for the cops at the scene, who may have felt that they had to defer to the paramedics on a medical call. Which doesn’t excuse all the other cops at the jail, let alone the nurses at the jail.)

Hicks’ family sued and won a million-dollar settlement, mostly from the company that employes the jail’s medical personnel, on the condition that they never speak publicly about the case. (A separate lawsuit is going on against the paramedic company.) However, “the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office did not formally discipline any of its employees.”

Is anyone surprised to hear that Hicks was Black?"



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