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Posted on Fri, Feb. 24, 2006
New Boot
Camp Rules Outlined
Doctor Casts Doubt on Report That Teen Died From Sickle Cell
ANDREA FANTA
Associated Press - Tallahassee
No arm twisting or wrist bending. No choke holds.
And at the first sign of trouble, call 911.
Those are among the new rules Florida's boot camps
for juvenile offenders will likely follow under changes prompted by the
increasingly controversial case of 14-year-old Martin Lee Anderson, who
died after he was roughed up by guards at a Panama City camp.
State officials on Wednesday announced they were
revamping boot camps but gave few specifics. The changes became more
apparent Thursday, with one sheriff saying he took them as a mandate
from Gov. Jeb Bush.
"The governor's intent is to bring sheriffs to the
table and discuss the possible changes that might be made," said Bush
spokesman Russell Schweiss.
State Rep. Gus Barreiro, the Miami Beach Republican
who has been most outspoken about the camps, said the proposals are a
great leap forward.
"They'll go a long way in preventing another boot
camp death," he said. "Unfortunately they weren't in place for Martin
Anderson. He would have still been with us."
Panama City medical examiner Charles Siebert last
week ruled that the youth died of a blood disorder, not the boot camp
beating.
The changes, which could be formally outlined as
early as today, would prohibit the use of pain for behavior modification
and bar use of ammonia capsules unless medically necessary.
Drill instructors at the Panama City camp may have
violated both of those provisions as they roughed up Martin Anderson
during his first hours at the camp in early January. He was kneed,
punched and thrashed by drill instructors and at one point, they stuffed
ammonia in his nose. He died the next day at a Pensacola hospital.
Among the other likely changes:
• Besides giving a teenager an EKG and medical exam
30 days before entering the camp, they must be evaluated again and drug
tested on the first day.
• Medical staff must be present as youths arrive at
a camp, usually the most intense part of the experience as guards
attempt to establish control through shouting and physical contact.
• Medical staff must intervene when youths say they
are unable to participate in an activity such as running or pushups. And
nurses must call 911 at the first sign of a problem. Staff would also
have to have training and access to defibrillators.
• Video cameras would be installed in key areas.
In a security video, a nurse appeared to do nothing
as drill instructors kneed and punched him. After about a half hour, an
ambulance took his limp body away.
His death has sparked outrage and calls from some
lawmakers and child advocates to close Florida's five boot camps. Gov.
Bush and the top official of the Department of Juvenile Justice, Anthony
Schembri, say they are worth saving.
The Panama City boot camp will close within 90
days, the sheriff there said this week. A camp in Martin County will
close this summer due to funding problems. The controversy over
Siebert's autopsy widened Thursday when Dr. Shairi Turner, the top
medical official with the Department of Juvenile Justice, expressed
surprise at the finding that Martin Anderson died of sickle cell trait,
not the beating by guards.
Turner, appearing before a legislative committee
investigating boot camps, said it was her understanding that in only
"very, very extreme situations of low oxygen" would someone show
manifestations of the disorder. Siebert again defended his finding and
suggested Turner should conduct further research.
Turner, who joined the agency in April 2005, is not
registered to practice medicine in Florida, the state Health
Department's online database shows. She last worked as a physician at a
walk-in clinic at Massachusetts General Hospital and received her
medical degree from Case Western University in Ohio, agency records
show.
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AP writer Melissa Nelson in Pensacola contributed
to this story.
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