Posted on 07/11/2010 9:51:28 PM PDT by The Magical Mischief Tour
Michelle Schreiner's blood sugar was dangerously low when a friend called 9-1-1 and Gresham police and paramedics arrived to find her holding a syringe full of insulin.
The officer ordered Schreiner -- who was dropping in and out of consciousness and was having trouble speaking or moving -- to drop the syringe. He shot Schreiner with a stun gun before handcuffing her and allowing paramedics to treat her.
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0 Share Not only was the incident life-threatening, Schreiner said, the stun gun was excruciating, and she was left humiliated, with saliva and mucus running from her mouth and nose.
Schreiner sued in U.S. District Court over the December 2005 incident. Last month, the city and Schreiner's attorney, Beth Creighton, reached a settlement: Schreiner received $37,500 and a promise that Gresham will train its officers by the end of summer in how to better recognize and care for people in medical distress, including those with diabetes.
Schreiner says the training just might make Oregon's fourth-largest city -- population 101,000 -- safer for diabetics. The 37-year-old says she's conscientious about avoiding low blood sugar, but occasionally it happens.
"The first question I've always been asked is: 'Have (you) been drinking?'" Schreiner said.
That's a common perception, said Sally Spaid Norby, executive director of the American Diabetes Association for Oregon and Southwest Washington.
And do people with diabetes worry that police will interpret their low-blood-sugar reactions as intentionally hostile, combative or noncompliant with orders?
"We certainly hear about it from people," Norby said.
Norby said the American Diabetes Association coordinates free training to lifeguards, hotel and restaurant employees and police -- anyone who regularly encounters the public and wants it. The association has produced a video, "Recognizing and Treating Low Blood Sugar Reactions ... Or is it drinking, drugs or diabetes?"
About 23 million Americans -- and more than 10 percent of adults -- have diabetes, according to the association.
Police encounters occasionally makes headlines. In 2003, Beaverton police used pepper spray and a stun gun on a man after he wouldn't pull over as he headed into Portland, drove over a spike strip and wouldn't get out of his car when it crashed. In 2007, Portland police said they had no choice but to use a stun gun on a 26-year-old Northeast Portland woman whose roommate called 9-1-1 for medical help.
Experts say many people blame diabetics for letting their blood sugar drop to levels where they become emotionally charged, hostile or combative.
"It's hard. It's hard," Norby said. "A lot of time low-blood-sugar reactions come on really fast."
Last month, an attorney for a diabetic man who says he was beaten and shot with a stun gun by Portland police July 17, 2008, during a diabetic emergency filed a $75,000 lawsuit in Multnomah County Circuit Court. Leonard Berman said his client, Michael Able, 46, was driving near Southeast 140th Avenue and Powell Boulevard when he crashed into a few parked cars. Bystanders called 9-1-1, and when police arrived, Able didn't comply with orders.
"He was in a daze. He came to after being tasered and punched in the eye," Berman said, alleging that officers gave Able a black eye and broke his teeth. "My client was ill, and the first thing they turn to is force. They were poorly trained."
The Portland city attorney's office declined to comment on the most recent case because of the pending litigation.
According to a police report written by Officer Gregory D. Burn, witnesses and an officer saw Able's car crash into a few cars, including a "stopped Toyota truck" while driving the wrong way down Powell. The rear tires kept spinning because the driver wouldn't take his foot off the gas.
Burn said he opened the passenger door and noticed that Able "appeared to be completely oblivious to my presence."
"I pointed my Taser at Able and gave him orders, but he kept trying to move the car," Burn wrote. Burn said he worried the car would start moving again, so he put the car in park.
"Able didn't fight but was being resistant to being handcuffed," Burn wrote.
Berman, Able's attorney, said police realized only after Able was handcuffed that he was diabetic. He wasn't charged with a crime.
The police report doesn't say that Able was shot with a stun gun and punched, but Berman said he has an independent witness who saw Able shocked and "roughed up."
Berman settled a case of a man in hypoglycemic distress with Portland for $17,500 in 2006.
Bob Day, commander of the Portland police training division, wasn't familiar with the incident and said he couldn't speak to it. He said he found no specific training of officers in how to recognize diabetics with low blood sugar and how to approach them.
Day said the training division is "certainly aware" of the issue -- and that diabetics can easily be mistaken for drunks. Sometimes, Day said, officers have brought people with hypoglycemia to Hooper detox center, where staff members have quickly realized the medical issue.
Day said the bureau might add diabetic encounters to its training or issue a bulletin about hypoglycemic behavior to all police employees.
He's a member of the bureau's tort review committee, which every other month reviews lawsuits filed against police.
"It's more than 'Oh, we're getting sued again,'" Day said. "It's 'Is there something here that needs to be addressed?'"
Do us a favor and read up on diabetes before posting straw-man comments. The onset of low blood sugar can come on quickly and without warning, even if you do everything correctly.
It’s not like the cop lowered it. He’s not a doc, he’s not a paramedic.
You're right there. He's not a paramedic, but he's stupid. I saw similar occurances all too often as a paramedic. Too many big-headed "you-better-do-as-I-say" attitudes could turn a peaceful situation into a problem in a heartbeat.
Anyone may lose control over their behavior. It would be hard to find anyone of this Earth who hasn't experienced such a thing at least once or twice in a lifetime. As an easy example, that happens when people are extremely tired. By this logic nobody should be driving, just on an odd chance that something "may" happen.
What is more reasonable, though, is to charge the diabetic patient (who crashed his car) with a moving violation, for operating a vehicle while not capable of doing so safely. As I understand, though, he wasn't charged.
Gotta love those THX 1138 moments! Comply or fry!
“Could be the cops saved her life when they prevented her from injecting the insulin.”
Could be. But I doubt it.
The report says she was going in and out of consciousness. It also indicated she had trouble controlling her movements. Highly unlikely she would have been able to give herself an injection.
Also, there is always the factor of idiot journalists to contend with - the article refers to “ a syringe full of insulin” but it could just as likely been empty. She may well have previously injected the insulin and that is what led to the problem. Give yourself too much insulin and then don’t eat and you are screwed. Give yourself too much fast acting insulin and you are screwed fairly quickly.
Either way, do you really mean to suggest the appropriate way to get the syringe away from her was to tase her?
Bring back the damn “nightstick” and the cops would have other options, such as using it to knock the syringe away. (I can understand the cops reluctance to chance getting stuck by the needle.)
My guess here is that the cop saw a syringe and a person acting as though they were under the influence and he was thinking that she was a drug addict. A case of hearing hoof beats and thinking horses rather than zebras, if you will.
Either way it was a stupid move.
What’s non-LE?
The more I consider it, I’m coming to the conclusion that cops with tasers are not such a hot idea. Taser seems to be the “go-to” tactic when they feel the need to do *something* but that something clearly isn’t shooting the main weapon.
Therefore... no need to think. Just pattern match. “Gun? No! What do I do then? TASER!”
Cops and tasers would be cool if they would come by on Fridays and maybe zap a couple of potatoes for Friday night chicken and potatoes.
LE = Law Enforcement.
This was a medical call, and obviously a medical situation.
The problem is, when a cops show up they automatically assume THEY are in charge of any given situation.
Even if the cops thought they were looking at a drug addict who had just done some heavy duty illegal drugs what was described was obviously still a MEDICAL situation and the cops should have backed the hell off and let the people with the MEDICAL training handle it.
A gun and a badge does not make one an expert in all things.
What about people with heart conditions. Some people experience electrical misfires in their heart and a taser can affect them adversely, even causing death.
The cops should have backed off and there was no reason for their intervention or violence.
They were informed of the circumstances of the call and if they don’t have medical training or common sense they should wait and let a real human being deliver compassion and care.
“Could be the cops saved her life when they prevented her from injecting the insulin.”
I know the Article stated it was an Insulin Syringe,
Who reported that and would they know the Difference If it had been a Glucagon Syringe?
To an Untrained person it may seem like the Wrong thing was about to happen.
Hel-lo? Anybody home? The lights are on, but no one seems to be home...
Her friend called 9-1-1 and she was attempting to administer a shot of insulin to herself when Officer Friendly showed up and shot her with the stun gun.
Or, maybe you skipped the first sentence of the article?
The city is held responsible because they're the ones holding Officer Friendly's leash, same as you would be held responsible if your pit bull attacked a baby. She is not being held responsible because she was having a medical emergency and only called for help.
Maybe medically sensitive people need to do more to protect their own personal safety than regular people. Cars with special plates, or registration with regional health orgs, so that maybe, so if a 911 call comes in, first responders might be better prepared for what they are going into.
Hel-lo? Is anyone home, yet?
As the article states in the very first sentence, her friend called 9-1-1 and briefed them as to the situation, i.e.: diabetic shock, so that the first-responders could be prepared. But in his haste, Officer Friendly ignored these instructions. I'm actually pretty surprised that Officer Friendly didn't break out his M-16 and rake her with automatic weapons fire.
Sure it does. Just ask any cop.
Should have left her with the needle, problem solved.
My wife is a diabetic. If this had been my wife, there would be a dead cop. They just love their tasers and making us dance.
Stupidest post of the day award for you. I guess anyone mugged or raped had it coming also, since they should have been protecting their own safety.
I’m with you. I am really appauled by this police behavior in the US. We need some major re-training back to the idea of community policing and some major law suits to make sure that happens. Actually, I think they have proven themselves untrustworthy of even having tasers.
Thank You, from all diabetics. We would all prefer not to have the disease just like all cancer patients wish they didn't have cancer. We live with it and stupid people like the poster and the cop blame us for the disease. BLOOD SUGAR DROPS WITHOUT WARNING. We keep lifesavers on hand to eat when we start getting dizzy. Yes, that is why they are called lifesavers and were originally made because they give a quick shot of glucose. . . .
Lawsuits aren’t working cause the taxpayer is stuck with the tab and the union protects the cops.
May I attribute your attempt at humor to your mental state as it is being affected by alcohol?
Now try and think a little. Suppose that intoxicated state you are experiencing happened to you as a result of a biological malfunction in your body. Suppose you were making obnoxious statements that were the result of Tourette’s Syndrome or a state of diabetic hypoglycemia (low blood sugar)in an airport. The next thing you know, you find yourself being confronted by airport security who throw you on the ground and knock your teeth out, break your arm and dislocate a disk in your back. What if the pain made you cry and people all around yelled out “Boohoo!” I guess a good stiff drink would make the pain all go away. Wouldn’t it?
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