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The Atlanta
Journal-Constitution
May 7, 2005
Boy's Pleas for
Aid Denied: Inhaler Withheld, Restrained Teen Died
Craig Schneider, Jill Young Miller - Staff
A 13-year-old
Douglas County boy who died after being restrained at a camp for
troubled youngsters asked counselors for his asthma inhaler while he
was held down, but no one gave it to him, state records show.
A Department of
Human Resources report on the April 20 incident said Travis Parker
asked for his inhaler during the first 10 to 15 minutes of the
restraint, which lasted about an hour and a half. But because the
boy was not wheezing or showing signs of an asthmatic attack, camp
counselors said, they did not provide him with it, the report said.
Travis went limp
during the restraint and counselors could not feel his pulse, the
records show. He died the next day at Children's Healthcare of
Atlanta at Egleston, after being taken off life support.
The Georgia
Bureau of Investigation is looking into the incident, which occurred
at the Appalachian Wilderness Camp, an outdoor therapeutic program
operated by the DHR in the North Georgia mountains. The results of
an autopsy are pending.
On Friday, the
boy's family made their first public statement since his death.
"The family of
Travis Parker is devastated and outraged by his passing at such a
tender age and in such a horrendous manner," said the statement
provided by attorney Michael Tyler.
The boy's
grandmother, Golden Griffin, who had been raising Travis, is in a
state of "profound shock and grief," the statement said.
"The family of
Travis Parker expected that at the Appalachian Wilderness camp,
Travis would receive nurturing and support," the statement said.
"Instead, sadly it appears the young Travis Parker received
brutality and death."
The DHR file on
the boy, obtained by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution through the
state Open Records law, contains a detailed account of the incident
compiled by Sarah Hopper, consumer protection manager for the
agency's North Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities
and Addictive Diseases. The account is based on interviews with
counselors involved in the incident and children who witnessed it.
The report says
that one counselor, a certified wilderness emergency medical
technician, "saw no indication of an asthmatic attack so did not
break the hold in order to give Travis his inhaler."
"He was
laughing, screaming and yelling. He had a history of asking for his
inhaler when in a hold. He was not wheezing.''
Counselors told
Hopper that the boy had used his inhaler only once since he had
begun the camp two months before.
Dr. Amy Hirsh,
of the Peachtree Allergy and Asthma Clinic in Atlanta, would not
comment on the incident specifically, but said: "Untrained medical
professionals should not make a judgment call on whether a patient
needs his or her rescue inhaler or not. If a child asks for a rescue
inhaler, they should be given it immediately without questioning
whether they need it or not."
Ten children
witnessed the boy's restraint, the DHR file said. Some of the boys
who were there said that when Travis went limp the counselors said,
"He is playing the dead fish game, he's faking."
Counselors, who
provided handwritten accounts of the incident, say they repeatedly
checked to ensure the boy was being restrained correctly. He
continued to violently resist, they said.
The boy was
placed in a "full basket restraint," a separate incident report by
the state Department of Juvenile Justice said. He was held face down
on the ground. His arms were crossed in front of him and held from
behind by one counselor, the incident report said. He was forced to
the ground, where another counselor held his legs and another
counselor held his hips, the report said.
The juvenile
justice agency doesn't allow the method of face-down restraint used
by the counselors because it can restrict breathing.
One counselor
wrote that he checked Travis' breathing and circulation several
times during the restraint. At one point, he said, another counselor
tried to remove a rock that Travis said was hurting his head. The
boy bit his hand, the counselor said.
Another
counselor said in his account that a blanket was placed under Travis
to make him more comfortable during the hold.
At 11 p.m., he
said, the boy was still fighting. At 11:30 p.m., another counselor
reported, "Travis stops responding and is released from restraint."
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