http://www.accessnorthga.com/news/hall/newfullstory.asp?ID=94295

Access North Georgia (by the Associated Press)

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CLEVELAND - Six counselors at a state-run wilderness camp for troubled boys near Cleveland have been charged with murder in the death of a 13-year-old boy who was restrained for more than an hour earlier this year.

A White County grand jury handed down the charges of felony murder, child cruelty and involuntary manslaughter Monday.

"This is all based on the criminal negligence or reckless conduct of these individuals," said White County District Attorney Stan Gunter. "It was due to the restraint, and how they applied it, that has led to these charges."

Travis Parker died April 21, a day after he was held face down by counselors at the Appalachian Wilderness Camp. The boy had angrily confronted one of the counselors for denying him food as punishment.

Parker had asthma and was denied his inhaler during the restraint. A medical examiner ruled the death a homicide.

An attorney for one of the counselors, Mathew Desing, said the counselors restrained the boy as they had been taught.

"They were doing what they were trained to do," attorney Abbi Guest said. "This is clearly not a case of counselors gone awry."

Desing "cared very much for the children he worked with, and he cared very much for the job of helping those children," she said.

But Gwen Skinner, an official at the Georgia Department of Human Resources, which oversees the camp, said the counselors were not following agency rules or procedures.

"We do not train staff to do face-down restraints," she said.

The other five counselors who were indicted were: Ryan Chapman, Paul Binford, Torbin Vining, Johnny Harris and Phillip Elliott.

Travis, who was from Douglas County, had been sent to the camp in February. He was on probation after hitting his grandmother, who raised him, and threatening her with a knife.

Since the incident, the state has retrained staff on the use of restraints and is reviewing its policies on when restraints may be used, officials said.

This is what can happen when you have unlicensed, uncredentialed, uneducated, non-professional people applying restraints. In a real hospital, only licensed people are allowed to apply restraints (RNs and MDs).

Yes - and those restaints must be approved of by the doctor. PCS should not use take downs and prone restaint - like they do everyday to anyone who crosses their eyes wrong.

It is ILLEGAL for a verbal order to be given over the telephone for restraints. Yet at PCS, seems the kids are FIRST put in restraints (just for mouthing off or something..I rarely saw this happen because the child presented a physical threat to themselves nor to anyone else). THEN a nurse is called, who THEN calls the doctor on the TELEPHONE (there is no doctor in-house), and the doctor THEN gives a "verbal order" for the restraints, which is illegal, as the doctor is sopposed to physically be there and examine the patient to assess the need for restraints, then write an order for restraints IF the criteria are met.

A licensed facility of any sort or any hospital (psychiatric or medical) would NEVER get away with using restraints in the manner they are used at PCS.

I know this because I am a nurse, and I work in a hospital.

When I went to PCS this next list was used on me: hand/arm restraints, mouth (ball) restraints, leg restraints... time out in the pe room (in development), I had all these in 1981 when I attended PCS, because I ran from the school. Back then, nobody (dr, therapists, management etc) gave any order for restraints, it was left up to the night staff,or, the 'bouncers' I called them. If anyone knows about PCS its me. Was there for a year.

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Replying to:

It is ILLEGAL for a verbal order to be given over the telephone for restraints. Yet at PCS, seems the kids are FIRST put in restraints (just for mouthing off or something..I rarely saw this happen because the child presented a physical threat to themselves nor to anyone else). THEN a nurse is called, who THEN calls the doctor on the TELEPHONE (there is no doctor in-house), and the doctor THEN gives a "verbal order" for the restraints, which is illegal, as the doctor is sopposed to physically be there and examine the patient to assess the need for restraints, then write an order for restraints IF the criteria are met.

A licensed facility of any sort or any hospital (psychiatric or medical) would NEVER get away with using restraints in the manner they are used at PCS.

I know this because I am a nurse, and I work in a hospital.