Metropolitan Police Department Washington D.C.

Subject:

Medical Treatment & Hospitalization of Prisoners

Series    Number  Change

502       07

Effective Date

January 17, 1975

Revision Date

*

The purpose of this order is to establish the policy and procedures to be used in the medical treatment and/or hospitalization of prisoners. This order consists of the following parts:

    

PART I    Responsibilities and Procedures for Members of the Department

 

Part II   Responsibilities, and Procedures for Special Assignment                 Personnel

 

PART III  Responsibilities and Procedures for Supervisory and

          Command Personnel

 

Part I

 

A.   Medical Treatment.

 

     1.   Persons held in departmental confinement facilities who claim a               need for medical treatment due to injury or disease shall be               immediately transported to D.C. General Hospital for examination        and treatment.

 

     2.   When a prisoner is brought to a police station suffering from a               recent injury, such prisoner shall he immediately taken to D.C.               General Hospital for examination and treatment. A report on PD            Form 313 (Arrestee’s Injury or Illness Report and Request for             Examination and Treatment) shall be prepared noting all the               facts in the case, including a notation of all cuts, bruises, or       other injuries visible to the officer at the time the person was          arrested, as well as the results of the examination by the                doctor. The same complaint number obtained : on the arrest                   report shall be utilized when preparing PD Form 313.

 

     3.   A prisoner who has been taken to D.C. General Hospital for                  medical treatment and returned to the station and confined in a               cell and who again com­plains of being ill shall be returned to             the hospital for further examination and treatment. A separate             and complete PD Form 313, utilizing the original complaint                number, for each such report, shall be made of each medical              examination and treatment given a prisoner. If the prisoner is               taken to a hospital for treatment and for some reason does not               receive treatment, this fact shall be noted in the “Hospital            Report” section on PD Form 313.

Publication

 

Effective Date

Page Number

General Order 502.07

 

January 17, 1975

2 of 7

 

 

 

     4.   Prisoners requiring medical or surgical attention or examination           shall be transported only to D.C. General Hospital. Prior to the           transportation of the prisoner to the hospital, the element             having custody of the prisoner shall execute a PD Form 313,             entering sufficient information to indicate clearly to the                  hospital authorities the need for treatment or examination.

 

     5.   A prisoner transported to D.C. General Hospital with a PD Form               313 shall first be taken to the main admitting office for                    processing, examination, and/or treatment. If violent or                 agitated, he shall not be re­moved from the transporting vehicle,      but the physician on duty at the admitting office shall be                    notified and he shall respond and examine the prisoner in the             vehicle.

 

     6.   Connected with the admitting office at D.C. General Hospital is               a detention room where a member of the D.C. Department of                    Corrections is stationed on a 24—hour basis. Male prisoners               transported to that hos­pital for examination or treatment shall              be remanded to the custody of the detention room officer. The            trans­porting officer shall give to the detention room officer            such information as will enable him to complete his records and              those of the hospital The transporting officer shall then return          to his regular duty assignment unless a physician is available           to give the prisoner immediate treatment and certifies his                immediate return to the element responsible for his custody.            In the latter instance, the transporting officer shall not                  remand the prisoner to the custody of the detention room                 officer, but shall furnish that officer with all infor­mation               necessary for his records and those of the hos­pital, and then           return to his element with the prisoner and the PD Form 313             containing the hospital’s report.

 

B.   Security of Female Prisoners.

 

     1.   Female prisoners shall be accompanied by a female officer at all           times while undergoing examination at a hospital. As necessary,               a female officer shall be dispatched to the hospital for this               purpose when the trans­porting vehicle is manned by male members.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    

Publication

 

Effective Date

Page Number

General Order 502.07

 

January 17, 1975

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     2.   Upon arrival at the hospital, female pris­oners shall be taken to           the Emergency Room for examination and treatment. The                       transporting member shall furnish the Department of Corrections             Officer on duty a properly pre­pared PD Form 313. However, the            Department of Corrections Officer will not take custody of the               female prisoner until she is admitted to the hospital. Until              such time as the female prisoner is remanded to the custody of            the Department of Corrections Officer, or is returned to the              organizational element, two police officers (at least one of             whom shall be female) shall remain at the hospital with the            prisoner. These officers shall be mutually responsible for the               security of the prisoner until such time as she is relieved from           their custody.

 

C.   Admissions to D.C. General Hospital.

 

     1.   Prisoners charged with misdemeanors who are admitted to the             hospital for treatment will be placed in medical wards without a           guard, unless directed other­wise by the Field Operations Officer           or the night super­visor. The medical wards at D.C. General                  Hospital are equipped with detention rooms in which hospital               personnel will place a misdemeanant if they are aware of the               need for such measures. Therefore, in unusual cases where                    special security measures should be provided, this fact should             be indicated on the back of the PD Form 313.

                  

     2.   Violent or agitated prisoners to be admitted to the psychiatric               building at the direction of the physician on duty at the                    admitting office shall be delivered to the psychiatric building           by the transporting officer.

 

     3.   There is a “strongroom” at D.C General Hospital used for                detaining prisoners charged with felonies while undergoing                  medical or surgical treatment. While this facility is in use, a             D.C. Department of Corrections Officer is detailed to guard the               prisoners confined there­ in.

 

          a.   Officers responding to the scene of a felony and arresting                    a perpetrator who is in need of hospitalization shall make                    arrangements to transport the prisoner under guard to D.C.                 General Hospital for subsequent confinement in the                         strongroom. Tb. prisoner shall be processed through the                  admitting office; and if after preliminary treatment, he is             to be admitted to the hos­pital, he shall be transferred                  under guard to the strongroom. The guard on duty at the                  strongroom will assume cus­tody of the prisoner.

 

 

 

Publication

 

Effective Date

Page Number

General Order 502.07

 

January 17, 1975

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          b.   Prisoners charged with felonies, and admitted to D.C.                        General Hospital, who are placed other than in the strong—

              room will also be guarded by officers of the D.C.                       Department of Corrections.

 

D.   Admissions to Hospitals Other Than D.C. General.

 

     1.   If a prisoner’s condition is so grave as to necessitate his             removal to a hospital other than D.C. General Hospital, and the               prisoner is admitted to that hos­pital, the arresting officer               will immediately notify the official then in charge of his                    element and a guard detail shall be instituted by that official.

 

     2.   At the beginning of each tour of duty, officers assigned to             guard duty at hospitals shall complete PD Form 312 (Daily Report           of Prisoners Guarded at ________________ Hospital). Proper                  entries shall be made as are required for each tour of duty. An            officer reporting as a relief for the detail shall personally              contact the officer he is re­lieving. Both officers shall make              bed checks of all priso­ners under guard. Each prisoner shall be            identified by name and the charge(s) on which he is being held.            Special infor­mation concerning the prisoner shall he relayed to               the re­lieving officer. When the relieving officer is satisfied              that each prisoner is present and accounted for, he shall sign               the daily report certifying the receipt of the pri­soner(s). He             shall then be responsible for the prisoner(s) until relieved in               the same manner at the expiration of his tour of duty. Officers             on guard detail at hospitals shall not leave their post at the               expiration of his tour of duty until properly relieved. An                  officer on duty guarding a -prisoner, upon receiving a telephone          call from an official of the district in which the hospital is             located advising him that he is relieved, shall not be                considered officially relieved until he personally returns the           telephone call to that district and verifies the order from the              same official.

 

     3.   Officers detailed to guard prisoners at hospitals shall exercise           every precaution to prevent the escape of such prisoners; and,               should it become necessary for an officer to leave the immediate          vicinity of the room for any purpose, it shall be his duty, and               he shall be held personally responsible, for seeing that all              measures are taken to prevent the escape of any prisoner. If a           guard over a prisoner must be relieved during his tour of duty             for any reason and before the time when his relief is scheduled               to report, the officer shall so advise a super­vising official of           the district in which the hospital is located, and that official        shall make arrangements for his relief.

 

     4.   Officers detailed to guard prisoners at any hospital shall                  retain and wear their service revolvers.

Publication

 

Effective Date

Page Number

General Order 502.07

 

January 17, 1975

5 of 7

 

 

 

     5.   It shall be the responsibility of the officer on guard duty at               the hospital to follow up cases of prisoners under guard in               order to determine when the prisoner can be taken to court. When          the prisoner can be taken to court, this officer shall                  immediately notify an official of the district in which the               hospital is located, who shall notify the Field Operations                    Bureau and the organizational element to which the arresting               officer is assigned, as soon as possible.

 

E.   Juveniles.

     A juvenile prisoner transported to D.C. General Hospital or elsewhere      for examination and/or treatment shall be processed in the same      manner as an adult, except that such juvenile shall not be placed in      the detention room at D.C. General Hospital or under police guard      with­out the express approval of the Field Operations Officer, a      deputy chief of this department, or an inspector (night supervisor).      In all juvenile cases, a PD Form 379 shall be prepared and forwarded      to the Youth Division.

 

PART II

 

Station Clerks.

In cases where a prisoner who shows indications of wounds or injuries of fairly recent origin is brought to a police station or confined therein, the station clerk shall immediately advise the official then in command. Prior to transporting a prisoner to D.C. General Hospital, the station clerk of the organizational element having custody of the prisoner shall be responsible for the execution of PD Form 313, utilizing the same complaint number as obtained for the arrest report. (When initiated at a district station, an original and one copy shall be prepared. The copy shall be held in the element’s file upon completion of all sections. When initiated In thc Central Cellblock, an original only of PD Form 313 need be prepared.) Upon completion of all sections of the form, PD Form 313 (original copy) shall be forwarded to the Identification and Records Division, to be filed with the original report of arrest. (NOTE: The execution of FD Form 251 is no longer necessary in cases involving medical treatment or hospitalization of prisoners.)

 

PART III

 

A.   Prisoners Showing Sign of Recent Injury.

 

Upon being notified by the station clerk of a prisoner who shows indications of a recent wound or injury, the official in command of the organizational element shall initiate an immediate investigation into how the injury was sustained. A summary of this preliminary investigation shall then be entered in the “Supervisory Official’s Report” section on PD Form 313. Completion of this report shall in no way delay transporting the prisoner to a hospital.

 

Publication

 

Effective Date

Page Number

General Order 502.07

 

January 17, 1975

6 of 7

 

 

 

(NOTE: prisoners need not be transported to a hospital unless obviously in need of medical treatment or unless the prisoner requests to be taken to a hospital.)

 

B.   Hospitalization of Prisoners.

 

     1.   When the examining physician at D.C. General Hospital decides to           order the prisoner hospitalized in another section of the                   hospital (other than the strongroom) for specialized treatment,              it will be the responsibility of the official then in charge of            the arresting officer’s organizational element to tempo­rarily             provide the necessary guard detail until other arrangements can             be made to comply with the provisions of this order.

 

     2.   When a prisoner is admitted to a hospital other than D.C.                   Central Hospital, the official in charge of the arresting                    officer’s organizational element shall establish a guard detail            at that hospital. If the hospital is located in a district other          than his own, he shall notify the official then in charge of the      appropriate district to provide the necessary supervision of the      guard detail. The official from the arresting officer’s element            will see that the attending physician is consulted daily with a            view toward effecting the removal of the prisoner to General               Hospital. If the attending physician, after preliminary                 treatment, advises that the prisoner

          be hospitalized and can be moved to D.C. General hospital                   without adversely affecting his physical con­dition, cue prisoner      shall immediately be transported under guard to D.C. General               Hospital.

 

     3.   A sergeant assigned to the district where a prisoner is under           guard at a hospital shall visit such location at least once             during each tour of duty. All sergeants making such required           visits will personally re­cord the tine of their visits on the           reverse side of the ID Form 312 (Daily Report of Prisoners                  Guarded). A midnight sergeant on duty at the district shall then          collect the PD Form 312 from the officer on the guard detail,            check it for accuracy, and convey it to his district to be for—            warded to headquarters with the district’s morning papers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Publication

 

Effective Date

Page Number

General Order 502.07

 

January 17, 1975

7 of 7

 

 

 

     4.   When a prisoner is to be transported from another hospital to           D.C. General Hospital, the official in charge of the arresting               officer organizational element will consult personally with the           attending physician to see if the prisoner’s condition is such               that he may he transported by a patrol wagon. If the attending               physician concurs, this form of transportation will he utilized.       If the attending physician believes the prisoner should instead               be transported In ambulance, the official in charge shall then            have the attending physician call the admitting physician on            duty at D.C. General Hospital and advise his of the facts in the           case. If the admitting physician determines after the                       conversation that the prisoner should he trans­ferred, he will             call an ambulance to transport the prisoner. The official in              charge will be responsible for providing a police escort to act           as a guard durin2 the transfer.

 

     5.   Upon establishing a guard over a prisoner at a hospital other           than D.C. General Hospital or upon admission of a prisoner to           the strongroom at D.C. General hospital, the official then in           charge of the arresting officer’s organizational element will           immediately notify the following:

 

          a.   Field Operations Officer, if on duty, (If not on duty, he                    will subsequently be notified at the earliest opportunity).

          b .  The Deputy Chief   in command of the Patrol     Division or                    acting — commander at other times.