http://http://www.wjhg.com/news/headlines/33938754.htmlPosted: 7:51 PM Nov 5, 2008
Last Updated: 7:10 AM Nov 6, 2008
Kristen Schmidt, the former Bay County Juvenile Boot Camp nurse at the center of the Martin Lee Anderson case, will no longer be able to practice in the state of Florida. She's voluntarily relinquished her nursing license to State Board of Nursing.
The board filed the final order with the Florida Department of Health Tuesday afternoon.
Schmidt was a central figure in the death of 14-year-old Martin Lee Anderson at the Bay County Juvenile Boot Camp on January 5th, 2006. Schmidt was the nurse on-duty that day, which was Anderson's first day at the facility.
Anderson collapsed during a physical assessment run in the recreation yard. At first drill instructors believed Anderson was faking illness to get out of running. For 20-minutes they tried to get him back on his feet.
But during the process, the drill instructors used some arm strikes and take-downs, as well as ammonia capsules to revive the teenager.
You can see Schmidt hovering over Anderson and the drill instructors the entire time, but not doing much more than observing.
Paramedics eventually took Anderson to a local hospital, then he was transferred to a Pensacola hospital where he died about 12-hours later. The cause of his death is still a controversy.
Former Medical Examiner Dr. Charles Siebert ruled it accidental due to Sickle Cell Trait.
A second autopsy found death by suffocation, due to the ammonia capsules held under Anderson's nose.
Schmidt and 7-drill instructors were later acquitted at trial on aggravated manslaughter charges.
The State Board of Nursing, in its investigation of Kristen Schmidt, cited Schmidt's conduct as unprofessional and negligent that day.
* The board found Schmidt failed to adequately assess Anderson's condition.
* She improperly distributed ammonia capsules to the drill instructors, without them having the proper knowledge about how to use the capsules.
* She failed to provide the paramedics with the complete information about what had transpired on the exercise field.
* Schmidt failed to perform any emergency treatment on Anderson at any time during the incident.
* And she failed to accurately record the incident in her nursing notes.
Schmidt agreed to voluntarily surrender her license, and never reapply in Florida in exchange for an end to the case against her. .
And it is possible we could see more activity in the Anderson case, from the U-S Attorney's office. The Department of Justice is investigating whether or not the drill instructors and Schmidt violated Anderson's civil rights.
Once Barack Obama takes office, the U-S Attorneys typically hand-in their resignation letters for the new president to accept or reject. If Obama selects a new U-S Attorney for this region, that person could push the Anderson case to the top of the priority list.
