Shocking!!!

[angel_miette]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070814/...us/tasered_dad

Is this what happens when we decide what the hospital is doing to our kids is wrong and we try to leave? I'm sorry but this has me mad and scared.

Angel Miette

[Demeter9]

Should the child be in a life-endangering condition then perhaps.

Otherwise - who the hell does the hospital think they are that people cannot leave a MATERNITY WARD without their damn permission?

[EVC]

In a statement, the hospital said Lewis was hostile and uncooperative toward staff members who were trying to find out his relationship to the infant when they saw him trying to leave

Is it possible that the hospital thought he might be kidnapping the child?

This also leads me to belief that there might be more to this guy's story:

Child Protective Services has custody of the baby because of a history of domestic violence between Lewis and his wife, J

So I'm not really sure what to think

[Katwoman]

I've been struggling with this since I read it. I certainly don't think it's acceptable "collateral damage" for the baby to have been caught in the cross fire. What if he wasn't the baby's Father? What if he had been trying to steal a baby? I don't think the hospital should let someone walk out of a maternity ward without knowledge that the child belong to the people leaving. But I have no idea how to stop someone intent on stealing a child either. (I know HE wasn't stealing the child. But they didn't know that.)

Just so sad.

[wannabe]

The article says the lifts were locked, and the mother was right there. So why not ask her what to do?

And why not NOT taser a guy holding a newborn when he's not going anywhere with it, and apparently not threatening it?

[Demeter9]

skin obviously conducts electricity. Unless the person being tasered is wearing rubber gloves, you are going to taser the newborn.

The guards didn't pass the idiot test before being given nasty toys.

[firemommaof1]

That poor baby... thats the true victim here! Adults can control there actions and no one was looking out for that child.

[hippymomma69]

This is unbelievable.

Makes me wonder what might have happened if DH and I had actually taken our newborn out AMA as we were planning to after 4 day of NICU testing finding NOTHING WRONG with him! I could see my DH getting pretty belligerent if they said we couldn't take our own baby home!

I'm sure there is lots more to this story but I'm sure the security guard didn't know the fine points when he tasered this guy. What a bloomin' idiot. I hope they fired him and put his partner on probation.
peace,
robyn

[Fyrestorm]

Originally Posted by hippymomma69

This is unbelievable.

Makes me wonder what might have happened if DH and I had actually taken our newborn out AMA as we were planning to after 4 day of NICU testing finding NOTHING WRONG with him! I could see my DH getting pretty belligerent if they said we couldn't take our own baby home!

I'm sure there is lots more to this story but I'm sure the security guard didn't know the fine points when he tasered this guy. What a bloomin' idiot. I hope they fired him and put his partner on probation.
peace,
robyn

I guess we were lucky..when we tried to snatch DD back from NICU and her baby lojac sounded off...they called security and the police..nobody zapped us!! They just threatened to arrest us for kidnapping (even though our armbands matched!!)

[alegna]

Guard was way out of line. Yeah, there may be more to the story.

I feel the need to add though that this hospital scares the pants off of me. A 43% section rate as of 2004.

-Angela

[hippymomma69]

Originally Posted by Fyrestorm

I guess we were lucky..when we tried to snatch DD back from NICU and her baby lojac sounded off...they called security and the police..nobody zapped us!! They just threatened to arrest us for kidnapping (even though our armbands matched!!)

!!!!!!CRAZY!!!!

:

peace,
robyn

[pranamama]

Demeter9 has a point, that poor tasered baby

[kblackstone444]

I'm sure there's much more to the story on either side or both, but the fact of the matter remains, YOU DON'T TASER SOMEONE HOLDING AN INFANT WITHOUT TASERING THE INFANT AS WELL!!! Even a child can tell you that! That poor baby.

[ancoda]

I just really have trouble seeing a man holding a baby as a real threat. THe elevators were locked, so he really wasn't going anywhere. Even if they thought for some reason that he was not supose to have the baby let him yell and scream. If he puts the baby down to try to assalt someone then you can take more agresive action. But to taser the baby to stop him was just plain DUMB.

[phreedom]

I also think that here is more to this story. Where was the mother in all this (yes I know she was in the hospital....but what was her stance on dad taking the baby?) If someone wants to leave AMA thats one thing...sign the papers, whatever...at least do everything on your end to make it "official", that way when the hospital/cps/police...whatever try to come back and say anything, then you can back yourself up. Just taking a newborn baby and leaving isn't very smart. It's not the same as just leaving as an adult.

Unfortunately people do kidnap babies, even biological parents. How was the hospital staff and security to know this fathers intentions? I doubt it was something as pure as refusing vaccines, or vitamin k.

That being said...the guard was way out of line for TASERING a guy with a NEWBORN. Especiall since the floor was already locked down.

[lilyka]

i don't know . . . there has got to be more to the story. Stupidity of using a taser gun on someone holding a newborn aside (what the heck was he thinking?!). the bracelets were still on the child. the mother was still in her hospital gown. She didn't do anything to intervene. CPS ended up with custody of the baby. I have a pretty good feeling this was not a case of leaving AMA.

[Breathless Wonder]

This was discussed over in News & Current Events a while back. You might want to pop over and do a search...

[bczmama]

"I just really have trouble seeing a man holding a baby as a real threat."

I think it would be very easy to see him as a threat to the baby.

[lilyka]

yeah that :

[GranoLLLy-girl]

Originally Posted by Demeter9

skin obviously conducts electricity. Unless the person being tasered is wearing rubber gloves, you are going to taser the newborn.

The guards didn't pass the idiot test before being given nasty toys.

Amen. Love your description--so right on.