African American Brother With 3rd Degree Burns Treated Like A Dog From Hospital Claiming He Was Given "Appropriate" Treatment
David Arnold Kirkpatrick, 58, was sleeping soundly early Saturday morning last week in his Los Angeles home when he was roused by the acrid smell of smoke.“I jumped up and opened the door,” said Kirkpatrick. Flames leaped from the burning structure as Kirkpatrick tried to escape. “I ran from the bedroom to the living room, but the whole room was on fire.”
Kirkpatrick, who escaped the fire dressed only in his boxer shorts and slippers, was surprised by the ‘cool’ treatment he received at Good Samaritan hospital. “They told me that I could not be admitted because they needed the bed space for another patient,” recalls Kirkpatrick.
This Black man's badly burned body was rushed to the urgent care unit at Good Samaritan Hospital by paramedics. Writhing in pain, the retired cook had no idea how the fire started. What he would later find out, however, was that he suffered first, second and third degree burns to his chest and back, covering 30 percent of his body.
“Not only did David have burns on his back, but on his head, neck, arms and feet as well,” said Elestine Easley, 48, Kirkpatrick’s ex-fiance. “He had blisters on his scalp where the fire had burned his hair off.”
But "Good Samaritan" Hospital didn't seem to find these injuries all that serious. “They didn’t even ask me if I had medical insurance,” recalls Kirkpatrick, who receives general relief and lives with his mother. This from a California hospital that prides itself on "providing superb patient care in state-of-the-art facilities."Well, not according to Kirkpatrick, who claims nurses prescribed a burn cream for his wounds and then wrote a prescription for 20 Vicodin pills. Afterwards, he was issued a pair of red flannel pajamas and a red T-shirt which he said promptly stuck to his wounds. Kirkpatrick said a nurse called his fiancé and requested that she come and pick him up from the hospital. “But my fiancé does not have a car,” said Kirkpatrick. “I told the hospital personnel that I did not have transportation home.”When contacted by phone about the incident, Katrina Bada, public relations manager at Good Samaritan, issued the following statement: “Mr. Kirkpatick was transported by paramedics to Good Samaritan Hospital on Sunday, October 28th with 2nd degree burns and was given the appropriate level of treatment before being discharged.”
In an effort to return home, Kirkpatrick appealed to a sympathetic hospital security guard who gave him two bus tokens. “But a bus pass is five dollars,” said Kirkpatrick, who said that without enough bus fare, he was forced to walk several blocks on blistered feet before finally being able to catch the bus to his fiance. Easley recalled. “I was shocked by David’s condition and wondered why the hospital didn’t admit him.”
On Monday, the Easley and her mother escorted Kirkpatrick to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center where she had to wait four hours to see a doctor. According to Elestine. “When the nurse finally saw us, she was astounded by David’s burns and she retrieved a doctor from the emergency unit. They gave him Vicodin for pain and cleaned his wounds. Then they covered them with gauze.” Elestine said that three or four doctors came to examine Kirkpatrick’s wounds. “The doctors asked if David had been discharged from Good Samaritan or if he had walked out,” said Elestine. “We told them that he had been discharged.
They said that he should never have been released from the hospital,” said Elestine. Kirkpatrick said he is still upset about the treatment he received at Good Samaritan. “They made me feel like sh**,” like less than a human being,” Kirkpatrick said, shaking his head. To add to his woes, Kirkpatrick is homeless since the fire completely destroyed the family home.
Thanks Our Weekly and editor Kathy Williamson for calling our attention to this travesty. Are you as pissed-off as we are about how little regard folks have for other people's lives???