Who ties a patient in a mental health hospital face down in to a bed with a pillow? Apparently, the folks treating mental health patients at the Colorado Mental Health Institute in Pueblo. Channel 7 news reports:
Geske died in the forensic unit of the state hospital.
Sources who have seen a videotape of the incident told 7NEWS that Geske was not flailing or hitting anyone when he was escorted into the isolation room by staff members. Geske was strapped face down and spread eagle on the bed with a pillow.
He was left restrained in the room, alone, and a staff member was stationed outside the locked door of the room.
Shortly afterward, the staff member, looking through a window on the door, noticed Geske had stopped moving. The staff member then went into the room and found Geske was not breathing.
CPR was begun on Geske, but he could not be revived. An investigation found that Geske, who was 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighed 260 pounds, had trouble breathing while spread face down on the bed and pillow. He had tried to turn his head to the side to get air, but died of positional asphyxia — a form of asphyxia that occurs when someone’s body position prevents them from breathing adequately.
Just how do you tell this man’s family that you killed him this way?