Two Corpsmen at Naval Hospital Jacksonville in Florida were fired after they shared inappropriate images and videos of black newborns on social media. Corpsmen are civilian equivalents of nursing technicians or CNAs. They are not licensed nurses.
A Corspman dressed in scrubs and wearing a stethoscope is seen holding a newborn by both arms and forcing the baby to dance to rapper 50 Cent’s hit track “In Da Club”.
Facebook user Denisa Shellito identified the woman in the video as Allyson Thompson. Shellito, who says she is a former classmate of Thompson, shared the video and images on her Facebook page on Monday after the video was posted on Snapchat.
“A girl I went to high school with is a navy nurse and this is how her and her shitty friend treat the babies that have just been born,” Shellito wrote.
“My blood is literally boiling and I want to snitch bc that is someone’s child. The first pic is her friend who is making the baby dance and she’s playing rap music in the background. I’m LIVID and I’m snitching bc she should get fired from her job but idk how to go about it. Pissed isn’t even the words.”
The staffer who recorded the video was later identified as Joanie Barrett.
Shellito’s post was shared over 300,000 times, as outraged social media users condemned the behavior of the women in the video.
The hospital released a statement calling the incident “outrageous, unacceptable, incredibly unprofessional, and cannot be tolerated.”
And in a statement released on Wednesday, Navy Surgeon General Forrest Faison said hospital personnel will no longer be allowed to use their personal cell phones while providing direct patient care.
In a statement, Gen. Faison said he has directed “immediate mandatory all-hands stand downs within 48 hours at all Navy Medicine commands to review our oaths, our pledges, our reasons for serving, as well as Navy Medicine’s policy regarding use of personally owned phones and other recording devices.”
He also said that commanding officers have been ordered to ensure no other patient photos exist on social media and personal cell phones in patient care areas have prohibited “until further notice.”
Sandrarose.com readers stood their ground in the comments section yesterday when certain individuals attempted to downplay this story and diminish the race of the black newborns.
Yes, race is important in this issue because it is crucial that we point out racist incidents when we see them. Racists don’t always wear white hoods and Nazi arm bands.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3U7oRPBYcQ
