#NYPD cleared me out of the ICU leaving Erica BY HERSELF WITH NO EXPLANATION … We are at woodhull hospital. They are supposed to be bringing her out of her coma in less than an hour and the #NYPD cleared her support from the floor with no explanation.
— officialERICA GARNER (@es_snipes) December 26, 2017
The daughter of Eric Garner is in a medically-induced coma after suffering another cardiac arrest. Erica Garner, who protested against police brutality after her father died in 2014, is in critical condition at Woodhull hospital after suffered a heart attack on Saturday night.
Doctors say Erica had an enlarged heart which was discovered after she gave birth to her son in August. The 27-year-old suffered her first cardiac arrest a month after her son was born.
Erica’s mother told reporters her daughter was in a medically-induced coma.
A family member who is updating Erica’s Twitter account complained that heavy-handed NYPD officers banned her and other family members from Erica’s ICU room while doctors weaned her off the sedative medication.
On Tuesday morning, the family member tweeted:
#NYPD cleared me out of the ICU leaving Erica BY HERSELF WITH NO EXPLANATION … We are at woodhull hospital. They are supposed to be bringing her out of her coma in less than an hour and the #NYPD cleared her support from the floor with no explanation.
“They are saying that they mixed up the list of people who had permission with the people who don’t. Until they figure it out all visits are dead. Problem is, I have been up there all night with an official pass from the hospital!”
Doctors often ask hospital security (or police) to clear out the ICU when they wean patients off meds so they can determine if Erica is responding to verbal or tactile (touch) commands. Patients are also weaned off of sedatives to determine if they can breathe on their own without a ventilator.
Visitors are also asked to leave if a doctor performs any procedure on the patient. The intensive care area is often off-limits to more than 1 visitor at a time and there are long blocks of time when NO visitors are allowed in intensive care.
This is just common sense — the patients in ICU are critically ill and they are often in the same room with no privacy.
The family member later tweeted that officers allowed them back into the room.
Eric Garner died after he was put in a chokehold by a NYPD cop on Staten Island. His death set off days of violent protests in New York.
Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images
