Post by IDOCO on Feb 16, 2009 16:29:46 GMT -5
www.wthr.com/global/story.asp...
Pendleton - An inmate at Pendleton Correctional Facility had to wait for medical treatment after getting bitten by a dog.
Daniel Starkey participates in the Fido Program at the Correctional Industrial Facility. Inmates are rewarded for good behavior and given an abandoned dog to housebreak and train and get it ready for adoption.
"He's my best friend," Starkey said, who dubbed his canine friend "Hutch."
Starkey says earlier this week, they were playing fetch when the dog accidentally bit him.
"He thought he was coming after the ball. I had the ball right next to my face and he bit me right in the face," said Starkey.
The bite ripped open the lower half of his face. Starkey says he went to the infirmary and the nurse told him the soonest he could see a doctor was the next morning.
"She put tape over my wound and sent me back to the cell," he said.
"It looks like they cleaned the wound, gave him Advil for pain and 4 by 4 gauze and went back to housing unit," said Ken Moss, CIF prison assistant superintendent.
Moss says medical records verify that visit and the one Starkey made an hour later, still bleeding.
"I was feeling dizzy and nauseous so I had the staff call down there and she said I was overreacting and refused to see me and that I should be locked in a segregated cell because I was overreacting," said Starkey.
Starkey says the guards strongly disagreed and tried to make arrangements to get him to the hospital.
"I talked to the captain on the shift who told me as a father he felt like Dan should go, that everybody else thought he should go and that he had a car waiting to take him to Wishard but he couldn't make that call, that it had to come from medical or the superintendent," said Joe Starkey, Dan Starkey's father.
The superintendent was contacted by email from the shift office at CIF, but medical records show the first doctor Starkey saw was inside the prison 12 hours later.
"The doctor said,'I'm not going to be able to put stitches in. It's already grown back closed.' I said,'Yeah, that's why I wanted to get stitches last night,'" said Starkey. "I said,'Well, am I going to be scarred for life? It's growing back crooked. She says,'Well, there's not much I can do now. You waited too long.'"
The prison outsources inmate medical care to a private company called Corrections Medical Services. They issued the following statement:
"Due to patient confidentiality restrictions we are unable to provide the news media with information about a specific patient's care or medical condition. We can tell you that the facility has a full complement of medical staff, including a physician who provides medical services at the facility five days per week and trained nursing staff on site at the facility at all times. Those nurses are trained to assess and appropriately treat a wide variety of medical needs. In the event of an injury such as a dog bite, healthcare professionals make decisions about the proper treatment based on the wound and the patient's condition. When patients report healthcare issues, healthcare professionals working at the facility evaluate and provide appropriate care."
Pendleton - An inmate at Pendleton Correctional Facility had to wait for medical treatment after getting bitten by a dog.
Daniel Starkey participates in the Fido Program at the Correctional Industrial Facility. Inmates are rewarded for good behavior and given an abandoned dog to housebreak and train and get it ready for adoption.
"He's my best friend," Starkey said, who dubbed his canine friend "Hutch."
Starkey says earlier this week, they were playing fetch when the dog accidentally bit him.
"He thought he was coming after the ball. I had the ball right next to my face and he bit me right in the face," said Starkey.
The bite ripped open the lower half of his face. Starkey says he went to the infirmary and the nurse told him the soonest he could see a doctor was the next morning.
"She put tape over my wound and sent me back to the cell," he said.
"It looks like they cleaned the wound, gave him Advil for pain and 4 by 4 gauze and went back to housing unit," said Ken Moss, CIF prison assistant superintendent.
Moss says medical records verify that visit and the one Starkey made an hour later, still bleeding.
"I was feeling dizzy and nauseous so I had the staff call down there and she said I was overreacting and refused to see me and that I should be locked in a segregated cell because I was overreacting," said Starkey.
Starkey says the guards strongly disagreed and tried to make arrangements to get him to the hospital.
"I talked to the captain on the shift who told me as a father he felt like Dan should go, that everybody else thought he should go and that he had a car waiting to take him to Wishard but he couldn't make that call, that it had to come from medical or the superintendent," said Joe Starkey, Dan Starkey's father.
The superintendent was contacted by email from the shift office at CIF, but medical records show the first doctor Starkey saw was inside the prison 12 hours later.
"The doctor said,'I'm not going to be able to put stitches in. It's already grown back closed.' I said,'Yeah, that's why I wanted to get stitches last night,'" said Starkey. "I said,'Well, am I going to be scarred for life? It's growing back crooked. She says,'Well, there's not much I can do now. You waited too long.'"
The prison outsources inmate medical care to a private company called Corrections Medical Services. They issued the following statement:
"Due to patient confidentiality restrictions we are unable to provide the news media with information about a specific patient's care or medical condition. We can tell you that the facility has a full complement of medical staff, including a physician who provides medical services at the facility five days per week and trained nursing staff on site at the facility at all times. Those nurses are trained to assess and appropriately treat a wide variety of medical needs. In the event of an injury such as a dog bite, healthcare professionals make decisions about the proper treatment based on the wound and the patient's condition. When patients report healthcare issues, healthcare professionals working at the facility evaluate and provide appropriate care."