() — The mother of a girl who died in the custody of US immigration authorities in Texas last month had made multiple requests for ambulance or hospital medical care for her daughter, but a nurse hired by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) denied the requests, said the agency on Thursday.
The 8 year old girl Anadith Danay Reyes Alvarezshe was eventually transferred on May 17 to a Harlingen hospital, but died there that same day, eight days after she and her migrant family were apprehended by CBP in Brownsville.
After the family was initially processed at a CBP facility in Donna, Texas on May 10, they were brought to the Harlingen CBP station on May 14 after the girl tested positive for the flu. A and complained of abdominal pain, nasal congestion, and cough, the agency previously said.
Between May 14 and May 17, “CBP-contracted medical personnel reported having approximately nine encounters with the child and her mother, who complained of fever, flu-like symptoms, and pain” at the station. Harlingen, CBP said in a new publication Thursday.
Medical staff treated the girl’s fever with ice packs, a cold shower and temperature-reducing medication, and also gave her flu medication, but “despite the girl’s condition (and) the concerns of her mother,” the girl was not taken to a hospital, CBP said Thursday.
On May 17, the day the girl died, a nurse practitioner at the station saw her four times after the little girl complained of stomach pain, nausea and shortness of breath, the CBP statement Thursday said. The nurse reported that the 8-year-old girl had a normal heart rate and normal blood oxygen saturation levels every time she checked on her, CBP said.
The nurse also reported that she “denied three or four requests from the girl’s mother for an ambulance to be called or for her to be taken to the hospital,” CBP said.
Shortly before 2 am, and after seeing the nurse four times, the mother returned to the health unit with her daughter in her arms, who appeared to be having a seizure, according to CBP.
Soon after, the girl stopped responding. Medical personnel began CPR, according to the agency.
The girl was taken to Valley Baptist Medical Center in Harlingen and pronounced dead at 2:50 p.m., CBP said.
CBP’s Office of Professional Responsibility, which is investigating the girl’s death, determined that none of the contract medical staff or US Border Patrol employees at the Harlingen station knew Reyes had cell anemia. sickle cell disease and a history of congenital heart disease, CBP said. The family had reported that she had sickle cell disease and heart disease during a medical evaluation at the Donna center on May 10, according to the agency.
While the girl was sick at the Harlingen facility, “contracted medical personnel did not consult with on-call physicians (including an on-call pediatrician) about the girl’s condition, symptoms, or treatment,” CBP said Thursday. “Contracted medical personnel failed to document numerous medical encounters, emergency antipyretic interventions, and medication administrations.”
