Cipherous
08-21-2004, 02:50 PM
Girl dies of cerebral palsy (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A9675-2004Aug17.html)
Missteps Cited In Girl's Death
Sick, Disabled Student Was Put on D.C. School Bus
By Theola Labbi
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 18, 2004; Page A01
Cindy Alvarado, a 13-year-old girl with cerebral palsy, had been lethargic and breathing more rapidly than normal that day at school. Her teacher was concerned and called for the nurse. But at the end of the day, Cindy was placed on a D.C. school bus with the nurse's urgent note tucked away.
After an hour-long bus ride to her foster home in Fort Washington, Cindy, who used a wheelchair and was unable to speak, had stopped breathing and was turning blue. Soon she was pronounced dead at a hospital.
Hours later, her foster mother found the nurse's note at the bottom of Cindy's backpack. It read: "Please evaluate re: emergency room ASAP."
The details of Cindy's Sept. 26 death are in a newly released report by University Legal Services, a federally mandated watchdog group for the mentally retarded and disabled. An autopsy found that Cindy died from volvulus, an abnormal twisting of a segment of bowel that can be fatal if untreated, the report states.
"It defies all nursing standards and common sense to place a child that needs emergent care on an hour-long bus ride with buried instructions for the parent to seek emergency medical treatment," concluded nurse investigator Andrea Procaccino, the Legal Services consultant who wrote the report.
Based on the report's findings, the D.C. Department of Health plans to ask its Board of Nursing to review the case. "We are very concerned about protecting the health of these medically fragile children," said Walter Faggett, the department's interim chief medical officer.
Legal Services learned of Cindy's death in April and launched an investigation, which included a review of records from C. Melvin Sharpe Health School in Northwest, where Cindy was a special education student, and interviews with the school's transportation staff.
D.C. school officials received a copy of the report Friday. Four attempts to reach Interim Superintendent Robert C. Rice were unsuccessful. Veleter M. B. Mazyck, the school system's attorney, said officials have been cooperating with an investigation by the D.C. Child Fatality Review Committee, an independent group. Schools spokeswoman Lucy Young said, "We categorically deny any wrongdoing of any kind."
LaGrande Lewis, principal of Sharpe, a special education school that serves 203 students with severe physical and emotional needs, said she regrets Cindy's death. She said members of her staff told her it was not uncommon for Cindy to cry in pain from her ailments, which included gastrointestinal reflux and a seizure disorder. The school's only nurse, identified by Legal Services as Vandalia Joyner-Taylor, did not return several telephone calls.
"The school nurse goes above and beyond to help sick students," Lewis said.
The Legal Services report is critical of Joyner-Taylor, who wrote the note found in Cindy's backpack. Investigators said there was "no indication that the nurse assessed or responded appropriately to [Cindy's] abnormal vital signs."
Joyner-Taylor still works at the school and is employed by National Nurses Service Inc., a company with three offices in the Washington region that provides nurses to private and public institutions. The president of National Nurses did not respond yesterday to telephone messages left at his office.
Joyner-Taylor is in a school nurse program run by Children's School Services, a subsidiary of Children's National Medical Center.
In an Oct. 21 memo sent to the D.C. Health Department, Children's School Services concluded that Joyner-Taylor's actions surrounding Cindy's case did not violate nursing standards, said Ray Sczudlo, president and chief legal officer for the medical center. He said Joyner-Taylor has been a nurse for more than 20 years and has worked at Sharpe for more than nine years.
can you fucking believe this shit?
The girl goes to the nurse because she has problems breathing and the nurse has the nerve to send her back to class with a note to her mother to call the ER room. Why doesn't the nurse just call the ER in the first place?
Makes you wonder why kinda idiots are running the school system.
Missteps Cited In Girl's Death
Sick, Disabled Student Was Put on D.C. School Bus
By Theola Labbi
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 18, 2004; Page A01
Cindy Alvarado, a 13-year-old girl with cerebral palsy, had been lethargic and breathing more rapidly than normal that day at school. Her teacher was concerned and called for the nurse. But at the end of the day, Cindy was placed on a D.C. school bus with the nurse's urgent note tucked away.
After an hour-long bus ride to her foster home in Fort Washington, Cindy, who used a wheelchair and was unable to speak, had stopped breathing and was turning blue. Soon she was pronounced dead at a hospital.
Hours later, her foster mother found the nurse's note at the bottom of Cindy's backpack. It read: "Please evaluate re: emergency room ASAP."
The details of Cindy's Sept. 26 death are in a newly released report by University Legal Services, a federally mandated watchdog group for the mentally retarded and disabled. An autopsy found that Cindy died from volvulus, an abnormal twisting of a segment of bowel that can be fatal if untreated, the report states.
"It defies all nursing standards and common sense to place a child that needs emergent care on an hour-long bus ride with buried instructions for the parent to seek emergency medical treatment," concluded nurse investigator Andrea Procaccino, the Legal Services consultant who wrote the report.
Based on the report's findings, the D.C. Department of Health plans to ask its Board of Nursing to review the case. "We are very concerned about protecting the health of these medically fragile children," said Walter Faggett, the department's interim chief medical officer.
Legal Services learned of Cindy's death in April and launched an investigation, which included a review of records from C. Melvin Sharpe Health School in Northwest, where Cindy was a special education student, and interviews with the school's transportation staff.
D.C. school officials received a copy of the report Friday. Four attempts to reach Interim Superintendent Robert C. Rice were unsuccessful. Veleter M. B. Mazyck, the school system's attorney, said officials have been cooperating with an investigation by the D.C. Child Fatality Review Committee, an independent group. Schools spokeswoman Lucy Young said, "We categorically deny any wrongdoing of any kind."
LaGrande Lewis, principal of Sharpe, a special education school that serves 203 students with severe physical and emotional needs, said she regrets Cindy's death. She said members of her staff told her it was not uncommon for Cindy to cry in pain from her ailments, which included gastrointestinal reflux and a seizure disorder. The school's only nurse, identified by Legal Services as Vandalia Joyner-Taylor, did not return several telephone calls.
"The school nurse goes above and beyond to help sick students," Lewis said.
The Legal Services report is critical of Joyner-Taylor, who wrote the note found in Cindy's backpack. Investigators said there was "no indication that the nurse assessed or responded appropriately to [Cindy's] abnormal vital signs."
Joyner-Taylor still works at the school and is employed by National Nurses Service Inc., a company with three offices in the Washington region that provides nurses to private and public institutions. The president of National Nurses did not respond yesterday to telephone messages left at his office.
Joyner-Taylor is in a school nurse program run by Children's School Services, a subsidiary of Children's National Medical Center.
In an Oct. 21 memo sent to the D.C. Health Department, Children's School Services concluded that Joyner-Taylor's actions surrounding Cindy's case did not violate nursing standards, said Ray Sczudlo, president and chief legal officer for the medical center. He said Joyner-Taylor has been a nurse for more than 20 years and has worked at Sharpe for more than nine years.
can you fucking believe this shit?
The girl goes to the nurse because she has problems breathing and the nurse has the nerve to send her back to class with a note to her mother to call the ER room. Why doesn't the nurse just call the ER in the first place?
Makes you wonder why kinda idiots are running the school system.