Medical failures at US detention centers linked to deaths of eight immigrants
Source: The Guardian
Medical failures at US detention centers linked to deaths of eight immigrants
Newly obtained documents from Office of Detention Oversight finds inadequate
medical response contributed to deaths between 2010 and 2012
Renée Feltz
Friday 26 February 2016 22.08 GMT
A failure to comply with medical standards contributed to the deaths of eight immigrants held in detention between 2010 and 2012, according to newly obtained documents from the Office of Detention Oversight, which investigates deaths in custody for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The deaths account for nearly half of the 17 cases examined by the American Civil Liberties Union, National Immigrant Justice Center and Detention Watch Network after the groups filed an open records request on the subject.
A 2012 death review indicates medical staff at the the Denver Contract Detention Facility waited more than an hour to call 911 after Evalin-Ali Mandza, a 46-year-old immigrant from Gabon, suffered a heart attack. The facility is operated by the private-prison company, Geo Group.
A review of Mandzas death conducted by a contractor for ODO found a nurse waited to call 911 while she continued processing the necessary paperwork to transfer him to an off-site medical facility. The review found medical staff were unfamiliar with the institutions Chest Pain Protocol, appropriate cardiac medication was not administered, and the time it took to transport the patient to a higher-level care facility, all may have been contributing factors to the death of the patient.
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http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/feb/26/dentention-center-medical-care-immigration-deaths