 Angellika Arndt died May 26, 2006 after being physically restrained. Earlier in the day, Angellika was put in a "control hold" for gargling with her milk. |
MADISON-Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager announced today that a Barron County corporation has been convicted of one count of felony negligent abuse of a resident.
Lautenschlager said that Barron County Circuit Court Judge Edward Brunner convicted Northwest Guidance and Counseling Clinic, Inc., doing business as Rice Lake Day Treatment Center, 413 South Main Street, Rice Lake, Wisconsin, of one felony count of negligent abuse of a resident. The corporation was convicted after entering a no contest plea. Sentencing is scheduled for December 27, 2006.
According to the Department of Justice's criminal information filed against the corporation, on November 28, 2006, the corporation, by its agents as employees of the corporation’s treatment facility, abused Angellika Arndt, a seven-year-old resident of the facility. The corporation failed to provide adequate training to staff members in the proper implementation of the facility’s restraint policy, creating a significant danger to the physical health of the resident.
The affidavit filed with the criminal information states that from the time of Angie’s admission until her death, there had been numerous acts and omissions by employees of the facility that had compromised her safety. These omissions included staff failing to adequately consult records containing Angie’s medical history and failing to consult the treatment plan prior to providing services to her. Despite having a physician and registered nurse on staff, evidence of a pattern of defiance and aggressive behavior by Angie was not addressed by medical professionals or a multidisciplinary team in a timely fashion, resulting in the ‘defacto’ use of restraint as a disciplinary measure. The staff member responsible for the training of all staff in proper restraint techniques had, himself, never actually received any appropriate training.
At the time of her death, Angie was being restrained by two adult staff members while laying facedown on a thinly-carpeted cement floor. One staff member held Angie’s legs while another covered her upper torso with his own, initially supporting the majority of his weight by his elbows. Angie was resisting the efforts to restrain her by crying, screaming and thrashing about. The staff member covering Angie’s upper torso reached over to attempt to control her head, which was thrashing about. After approximately 30 minutes, Angie became calm and listless. Believing she had fallen asleep, the staff members rolled Angie over and observed she had turned a bluish color and was non-responsive. Attempts to revive Angie were unsuccessful.
The Hennepin County, Minnesota, Medical Examiner’s Office ruled Angie’s death was caused by positional asphyxia. A review of records revealed Angie died in the course of being restrained from the weight of the staff member upon her back significantly impairing her ability to breathe.
In a related case, Brad Rideout, an employee of the Rice Lake Day Treatment Center, was charged by Barron County District Attorney Angela Holmstrom with one count of misdemeanor negligent patient abuse. Rideout was convicted after pleading no contest to the charge and will be sentenced on December 27, 2006.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General William Hanrahan.
