Charles Eimers Preliminary Autopsy Report Released
Charles Eimers Photo provided by Treavor Eimers
Monroe County Medical Examiner E. Hunt Scheuerman, MD on Thursday released his preliminary objective report following the autopsy of Charles Eimers.
Charles Eimers, 61, tourist for a day in our island Paradise, died on Thanksgiving day while in the hands of Key West police officers. The arrest took place on South Beach in front of multiple witnesses who reported a scene of violence: tasers being used repeatedly on a man handcuffed facedown in the sand and tackled by 5 or 6 police officers. Eyes bloodshot, face blue, nose and mouth caked up with sand, Eimers stopped breathing and became limp before dying a week later at Lower Keys Medical Center after being taken off life support.
Initial police department communications indicated that Eimers had suddenly collapsed and had doubtless died due to a pre-existing heart condition, which somehow led a doctor at the hospital to declare Eimers’ passing a death from “natural causes”.
This initial explanation is now clearly contradicted by the preliminary autopsy report. Ten ribs were fractured, the neurons in his brain had turned red from lack of oxygen, his trachea showed abnormal reddening. The report also reveals that the airways within the lungs exhibited “linings of tan exudate”. Exudate is a liquid produced by the body in response to tissue damage. Many have speculated that Eimers suffocated in the sand. Could sand have caused tissue damage in his lungs, which would be one more piece of evidence pointing to asphyxiation?
“Not necessarily,” said a physician we interviewed after showing him the coroner’s report, “the only thing this report really does is rule out a heart attack,” he said. “There is an indication of arteriosclerosis. But Eimers had less than 25% obstruction. That would not have caused a problem… The report also indicates there was no acute myocyte necrosis, inflammation or significant myofiber disarray found in the heart tissue. The problem is, this autopsy was performed too long after the incident. The patient was sick for another week at the hospital and then refrigerated for another week prior to autopsy. Most of the indicators would have disappeared by then.”
Another remarkable element revealed in the Medical Examiners report is that apparently the hospital destroyed all of the blood and tissue samples it collected when Eimers’ was admitted to the hospital. This prevents the Medical Examiner from performing more specific tests, which would shed more light on factors used in determining the cause of death.
The disturbing loss of crucial evidence in this case renews the question of possible cover-up:
What should have happened is:
- The family should have been informed immediately.
- Charles Eimers would not have remained hopelessly on life support.
- The body would have been sent immediately to the Medical Examiner for autopsy, together with the blood and tissue samples.
But what actually happened is:
- KWPD made no attempts to reach the family until 4 days after the incident.
- A doctor initially ruled the death one of “natural causes”.
- The body was sent to Dean Lopez for cremation and all of the hospital admission samples were destroyed.
If one combines this scenario with the fact that the officers initially refused to make statements and have yet to cooperate with FDLE investigators, it’s hard not to give some credit to a deliberate cover-up theory.
By law a hospital is obligated to provide the Medical Examiner with every relevant piece of information in a “death in custody” case. How was the hospital supposed to know Charles Eimers was “in custody”?
The Medical Examiner’s report mentions some interesting facts:
- Both wrists are encircled by gauze dressings.
- The dorsum of the right wrist has a 9 by 4 centimeters, red-purple bruise, within which are several, small (maximum 12 by 5 millimeters), brown crusted abrasions.
- The dorsum of the left wrist has a transversely oriented, 12 centimeters long by up to 3 centimeters wide, red-purple bruise. Within this bruise are several, small (up to 7 by 8 millimeters), brown crusted abrasions.
That was the result of having been handcuffed for at least 5 minutes during an altercation with Key West Police officers. As far as the hospital’s knowledge of the “in custody” status of Mr. Eimers goes, shouldn’t those wrist abrasions, which were treated by the hospital with “gauze dressing”, have provided a hint as to the hospital’s duty to inform the Medical Examiner?
Like all plans made by mice and men, any effort to sweep Charles Eimers’ death under the rug was thwarted by a few grains of sand (not the least of which was a timely inquiry by this newspaper). The body escaped cremation by a pure miracle and we now have a preliminary autopsy report. But interestingly enough, we are told that no separate investigation is being conducted regarding the complete and utter breakdown of the system.
Stay tuned.
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To access all Blue Paper coverage of the death of Charles Eimers click here.
gads how smelly can it get. there seems to be so many sweepings under the rug that this case is getting thicker by the week.
who is this un-named doctor who first signed a death certificate for death by ‘natural causes’? where are the hospital xrays taken while eimers was on life support…surely they would show fractured ribs? so now the hospital exhibits culpability in this most unfortunate and avoidable death of a man innocent of any form whatsoever of resistance as previously proven without doubt… just look at the fricken smoking video and the cop pile-on. 10 FRACTURED RIBS?
neurons showing o2 starvation? yes asphyxiation or do frogs need fall from the damn sky first?
what the hell kind of disgusting thugs are in the employ of the police department. this is absolutely not acceptable and the police responsible must be prosecuted be it murder or man slaughter justice must be done in this case and the thug[s] responsible need be packed away behind bars where he/they belong including anyone who has taken part in this coverup. and make no mistake coverup it is/was.
i’ve made my home here for the past 36 years and this is the first time i have become concerned over the public’s safety and not from any punk mugger or street thug but worse…from the key west police department itself.
chief get off your ass and clean up your shop.
city commission wake up and get real serious in your responsibilities of oversight and start demanding solid and truthfull answers.
Fractured ribs are not uncommon in cases where CPR has been administered.
First of all, if you fracture 10 ribs doing CPR, you should be prosecuted and sued in civil court. So that idiot should know what they are talking about before the show their insanity to the world.
Secondly, the FBI should take over this case. There is no excuse for these officers not to be prosecuted. This is a cover up. Exactly who, name this person, authorized the destruction of evidence at the hospital.? The chief must resign in shame. The town fathers must now get VERY involved. These cops are our employees, our public servants. Key West would be a much different place if we were to loose the 3.5 million visitors that visit us each year. If our cops don’t stop beating people up and killing our tourists I suspect we won’t be that attractive any longer. God bless this poor man and his family. Jail the perpetrators and fire the Chief.
Dr. Jon McLean
Key West, Florida
Has anyone checked at the hospital who was working that day or night that Eimers was admitted that were connected or related to some police officers. ? It might be interesting how hospital personnel were missled by someone working that shift at the hospital.
Consider the chain of perpetrators command. The KWPD is under orders from above to be as tough on homeless people as possible. Eimers was suspected by the cop who made the traffic stop on North Roosevelt of living in his van. The cop who stated that he elbowed Eimers in the back of the neck/head(according to a witness who heard it from the cop, as reported in the blue paper some time back, used anti-homeless rhetoric. You can thank your present and past mayors and city commissioners for what happened to Eimers, is what I’m getting around to saying here, for they are who set the city’s homeless policy. I know this for a fact, because I have been toe to toe with mayors and city commissioners for over a decade in this city, about its treatment of homeless people, one of whom used to be me. I agree, the KWPD needs cleaning out, some KWPD personnel probably need to be in prison, but do not forget whose wishes they are fulfilling. This is not a joke. I am dead serious. The proof for me is not one peep of protest or expression of alarm or concern or apology to the Eimers family yet have I seen or heard from the city commissioners and mayor about what happened to Charles Eimers. Yes, I know they have been told by their lawyer (city attorney) to keep mum, I used to tell my law clients to keep mum. But I never represented a local government, which has a fiduciary duty to the public not to injure people without a really good reason. The karma from this case is awful, and it will have its say, and it may be that nobody involved connects the dots back to what this city did to Charles Eimers. As the blue paper likes to say, stay tuned.
Sure looks to me it was a miracle that Charles Eimers’ body was not cremated before the coroner got it. I wonder if that caused Chief Lee and his troops, and the city commissioners and mayor and lots of people down here, to consider maybe angels of the Lord might have had a hand in Eimers’ body not being cremated and somebody just happening to be at the seen (scene) of the death to take a video of the guns-drawn apprehension of a face-down in the sand soon to be dead suspected homeless man living in his vehicle? Maybe the Tourist Development Council and the Key West Chamber of Commerce should put out an all points bulletin on the World Wide Web advising tourists not to come down her in cars or trucks or vans which are not squeaky clean inside, no litter, else they might be profiled as being homeless. And, yeah, while they are at it, come down here packing, for no telling when they might have to stand their ground and shoot a Key West cop or two or three in self defense because they fear for their lives. My friends on the mainland, who have been following the Emiers case reporting in the blue paper and at http://www.goodmorningkeywest.com, are in disbelief and outrage over how the KWPD and the city government have handled the aftermath of Charles Eimers demise.
http://filmingcops.com/americans-killed-by-police/
This all reminds me of the film” Brazil “. We have met the enemy and it is us. I notice that Homeland guys were called in also on that Stock Island drug bust and that has made more news than the death of Mr. Eimers, so the comment/ link preceeding from Sister makes a good point Oh I am sooo afraid!
I really feel that if the residents of this tiny 7+ mile island are unable or unwilling to seek justice in this case then there is little hope for the rest of us out in the big world. Critical Mass!
Someone who works in the Key West Citizen told me this morning that he heard US 1 Radio’s Bill Becker say yesterday on this show that KW cops had wrestled Charles Eimers to the ground. I said if Becker said that, then he had not seen the video in the blue paper’s first article of KW cops with guns drawn apprehending Eimers at South Beach. Before the cops got very close to him with guns drawn, Eimers went down on the sand, face down, and they approached him and surrounded him and put their hands on him and started to cuff him and his legs started squirming and the video ended. I said I could not believe Becker has not seen that video. The person said the Publisher and Editor of the Citizen had said they did not know what was in the video. I said I simply did not believe that they had not see it. It looked to me like massive cover up to me, across the board. I called Naja and told her what I’d heard. She said she had not heard Becker say that. She said the Citizen, after its first article on the Eimers case, which did not mention the video, started mentioning the video in its articles, but never published a link to it. I said, right, to publish a link would take Citizen readers to the blue paper. To publish a link would terrify the powers that be down here, which depend so heavily on tourism. Can’t have that! I said, whenever the angels get me involved in something for very long, it’s because there is something really bad going on. Naja said perhaps Paul Horan getting the Eimers case will get the national media interested in the case, if a lawsuit is filed. I said that indeed might get the national media interested. I called the other person back and reported what Naja had told me. I said the Citizen needs to publish the link to the video, so its online readers, at least, can see the video, if they wish.
Later today, Naja called me back and left a voicemail saying she had listened to Becker yesterday and he had said the cops had wrestled Eimers to the ground. I called the other person back and reported what Naja had told me the second time. The other person said Becker had said it a couple of times. I said again, there is no way Becker could have reported the cops had wrestled Eimers to the ground, if Becker had seen the video, and either Becker had not seen the video, which would be incomprehensible, or he intentionally misreported what happened, which also would be incomprehensible because the video shows Eimers putting himself on the ground before the cops reached him. Perhaps Becker was having a bad hair day, or was reading propaganda put out by the KWPD version of Pravda.
Whatever, this case flunks the smell test a bunch of times. I can’t wait to see/read what the KW cops’ lawyer actually lets them say. Although it was drilled into me in law school that a criminal defendant had ever right to plead the 5th Amendment and not testify or otherwise be forced to incriminate him/herself, I never did feel pleading the 5th was a sign of virtue. I felt it the 5th Amendment was enacted to prevent a criminal suspect of being tortured to force a confession, like what used to happen frequently in England and Europe, among other law-abiding places, before white people “discovered” America. However, that’s now how the 5th Amendment turned out being applied.
I wonder how many of these fine KW police officers are Christians. I wonder if they recall Jesus preaching somewhere in the Gospels, not to take oaths, but to simply say yes when you mean yes, and no when you mean no; anything else comes from evil. Maybe the Eimers case might end up making Rasputin an amateur.
Sister, Last year in California the police in the town of Hawthorn arrested a bystander for no reason. The man was video recording the police making an arrest of some kind . The police shot and killed this poor mans dog just to be spiteful. The entire town showed up and protested at the corrupt cops house. Thousands of people.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDBZr4ie2AE
Yes, we seem to have more empathy for animals these days – at least for the ones that we don’t eat – than we do for our brothers and sisters.
The trend toward government coordination of civil
and criminal investigations to enhance its enforcement efforts is accelerating. Parallel criminal and civil rights investigations are fundamental in determining if any crimes were committed prior, during or after the death of Mr. Eimers.
It’s important that a clear, detailed and accurate finding is made regarding the appropriateness and legality of the conduct employed by the police officers who chased, subdued and arrested Mr. Eimers
The Office of Professional Standards needs to conduct a thorough administrative investigation regarding the tactics and techniques employed by the arresting officers.
Obfuscating and obstructing an investigation through a cover-up or the destruction of evidence are felonies.
Leadership is lacking in getting to the truth behind the ‘how and why’ of Mr. Eimers’ death.
FDLE appear to be doing their job. It has been my experience that they are perfectly capable of coming down on the side of truth, when facts supported by the evidence determine their investigative outcome.
However, I’m concerned by a bevy of FDLE findings that have supported police involved killings, when an initial review of the evidence showed wrong-doing in these police shootings.
If one of my police officers or Marines killed someone under questionable circumstances, I would not rest until the truth were known in its entirety. Accomplishing this mission in a complete, objective and expeditious manner would be the priority of all those under my command.
Fear, hesitancy and bureaucratic gridlock on the part of those charged with protecting and serving the ‘people’ are repulsive characteristics.
Agreed, John. But who hired these KWPD police officers? Who hired him who hired them? Who is saying zip? Who set the standard for how KW police treat homeless people, for which Charles Eimers was profiled by the first officer who accosted him, who passed that profile on to other officers? Your mayor and city commissioners set that standard, John. Please do not forget, John, that the coconut don’t fall far from the tree..
Driving while Black or Homeless is a crime. It’s a serious crime, at times causing the offender to be summarily executed on the spot.
United States Marine and Black Insurance Executive Arthur McDuffie was killed by 12 Miami police officers because he ran a stop sign on his motorcycle and caused the police to pursue him. He stopped his motorcycle, raised his hands in the air and said: “I give up”, as sworn to by 3 police officers.
This man was handcuffed and pulled to the ground, as his helmet was ripped off. Twelve Miami police officers surrounded Mr. McDuffie, a Marine veteran who fought for his country, and they began to beat him relentlessly with their nightsticks, batons and flashlights. These officers took turns holding him down and exposing his head for the blows that eventually killed him.
As testified to, the beating lasted for nearly 10 minutes. As sworn to by several police officers: “The feeling afterwards was that this guy was a nigger who was running from the police, and he deserved everything he got”.
The much acclaimed Janet Reno was not able to secure a single criminal conviction against any of the police officers involved in this killing. Even with critical evidence given to her by officers present at the beating, Janet Reno was unable to convict anyone of this horrific act.
After these officers killed Arthur McDuffie, they drove their squad cars over his motorcycle, gouged the road with a tire iron to make it look like bike tracks and threw the victims watch down a gutter; all in an attempt to stage an accident and cover-up their crimes.
Dr. Ronald Wright, a Dade County medical examiner, testified that McDuffies’ skull had been cracked in half. It was the worst brain damage he had ever seen. This, apparently, was not enough for Janet Reno to convince a jury.
As alluded to, addressing homelessness in Key West is a sticky subject. The chain of command runs from the chief of police right on up to the top. Did the excessive muscle applied to Mr. Eimers follow normal protocol? Is Mr. Lee under pressure to discourage homelessness? Who is the supervisor of Mr. Lee, and who are the supervisors of Mr. Lee’s supervisor? Are they alright with an innocent man being beaten and killed by their police department? What if riots were to take hold of their fair city? Would we still be ‘One Human Family’? Because Mr. Eimers allegedly ran from the police: “Did he deserve what he got”?
Although Janet Reno failed miserably, at least Arthur McDuffie had the pretense of having his day in court….
Driving while Black or Homeless is a crime. It’s a serious crime, at times causing the offender to be summarily executed on the spot.
United States Marine and Black Insurance Executive Arthur McDuffie was killed by 12 Miami police officers because he ran a stop sign on his motorcycle and caused the police to pursue him. He stopped his motorcycle, raised his hands in the air and said: “I give up”, as sworn to by 3 police officers.
This man was handcuffed and pulled to the ground, as his helmet was ripped off. Twelve Miami police officers surrounded Mr. McDuffie, a Marine veteran who fought for his country, and they began to relentlessly beat him with their nightsticks, batons and flashlights. These officers took turns holding him down and exposing his head for the blows that eventually killed him. As testified to, the beating lasted for nearly 10 minutes. As sworn to by several police officers: “The feeling afterwards was that this guy was a nigger who was running from the police, and he deserved everything he got”.
The much acclaimed Janet Reno was not able to secure a single criminal conviction against any of the police officers involved in this killing. Even with critical evidence given to her by officers present at the beating, Janet Reno was unable to convict anyone of this horrific act.
After these officers killed Arthur McDuffie, they drove their squad cars over his motorcycle, gouged the road with a tire iron to make it look like bike tracks and threw the victims watch down a gutter, all in an attempt to stage an accident and cover-up their crimes .
Dr Ronald Wright, a Dade County medical examiner, testified that McDuffies’ skull had been cracked in half. It was the worst brain damage he had ever seen. This, apparently, was not enough for Janet Reno to convince a jury.
As alluded to, addressing homelessness in Key West is a sticky subject. The chain of command runs from the chief of police right on up to the top. Did the excessive muscle applied to Mr. Eimers follow normal protocol? Is Mr. Lee under pressure to discourage homelessness? Who is the supervisor of Mr. Lee, and who are the supervisors of Mr. Lee’s supervisor? Are they alright with an innocent man being beaten and killed by their police department? What if riots were to take hold of their fair city? Would we still be ‘One Human Family’? Because Mr. Eimers allegedly ran from the police: “Did he deserve what he got”?
Although Janet Reno failed miserably, at least Arthur McDuffie had the pretense of having his day in court….
Maybe US police departments should adopt Hillary Clinton’s motto… “We came, We saw, He died, ha ha ha ha”
The question should be … Are YOU alright with an innocent man being beaten and killed by YOUR police department? Obviously “they” ARE alright with it.
I don’t like what happened to Mr. Eimer’s. My life’s experience has required me to directly address several incidents where the conduct of police brought death to innocent men. In the last incident, the state, with malice and forethought, decided to execute a man they knew to be innocent. Over time they were systematically beaten back to three life sentences without parole, then to a dismissal of all charges and his release.
My dream was to one day become a police officer. My wounds were a career changer. Some of the most courageous and ethical individuals I know are and were members of law enforcement.
I aspire to the 10% rule. At least ten percent of the members of any organization are inept, corrupt and dangerous. Not all Marines are glowing examples of proper conduct. I know teachers who should have been put behind bars for a very long time. The same goes for police officers, firefighters, lawyers, corrections officers, wardens and state attorneys.
Watching and re-watching the 53 second video leading up to Mr. Eimer’s being handcuffed; this is what I see. Mr. Eimer’s exits his vehicle from the driver side, walks slowly and deliberately to the rear of his car. He then proceeds to walk about 15 feet beyond the rear of his vehicle. He appears steady and stable on his feet. He does not exhibit any aggressive behavior.
He kneels down on his right knee first, using his right arm as a brace. He kneels down on his left knee and simultaneously thrusts both of his arms out in front of him. Initially he props himself up on his forearms and elbows with his head up. It appears that he is looking at an officer approaching him. As this officer walks towards him with their arms locked in a firing position, Mr. Eimers bows his head down, face towards the sand.
As the first officer makes contact with him, he holsters his weapon and remains standing as he straddles Mr. Eimers from behind. This officer reaches down and first takes hold of Mr. Eimers’ left wrist and forearm, pulling it behind him. This same officer quickly reaches for Mr. Eimers’ right wrist and forearm, swinging it up and back behind him.
It’s at this point that Mr. Eimer’s body shows signs of distress. Involuntary or voluntary resistance is exhibited by Mr. Eimers to what the police want to do to him. The police want to handcuff him. Mr. Eimers may be struggling to breathe.
Mr. Eimers contorts his head to the right and begins jerking his body in protest of being handcuffed. Or, were these the actions of a man who simply wanted to live.
Other officers approach Mr. Eimers, attempting to steady him so the cuffs can be applied. During this time Mr. Eimers is squirming and kicking his legs in the sand, in a low-crawl motion.
When Mr. Eimers’ arms were drawn up and behind him so that he could be handcuffed, the brace and support that they gave him while he lied face down in the sand were removed. The added weight and tilt of the body compressed his abdomen. Air hunger and oxygen deficiency would have triggered his struggling to stay alive. Thus, requiring increased force by the police to secure the arrest.
I did not see the police aggressively rush and jump on Mr. Eimers. I did not see them knee or strike Mr. Eimers at any time during the 53 second video. There did not appear to be any direct force or weight applied to the back or torso of Mr. Eimers by the police, during this time frame
Parallel and independent investigations detailing every relevant facet of this tragic event are necessary. No one is above the law. And no one should have their name mulled about as a murderer, if they’ve done nothing wrong.
My belief is that if you’re too stupid to figure out that your actions are causing someone’s death then you sure as hell should not be walking around with a loaded gun.
John, did you read the blue paper article in which one female KWPD officer at the scene said something to the effect that she wanted to off one of the other KWPD officers re what was done to Eimers? Did you see in a blue paper article a statement by a friend of one of the officers that that officer bragged about purring a knee on the back of the left shoulder of Eimers and elbowing him in the back of the neck, or maybe it was the back of his head, and uttered anti-homeless words about Eimers? In answer to your earlier comment, the KW Chief of Police answers directly to and works for and is hired and fired by the KW City Manager, who answers directly to and works for and is hired by the KW City Commission. At the end of tonight’s city commission meeting,, during closing citizen comments, I told the commissioners and mayor that I have yet to hear a word out of them about Charles Eimers death on South Beach. I told them it was the direct consequence of the city’s all-out effort to cause all its homeless people to leave the area, it was the city’s karma. Living way up Key Largo way, John, you might not be in tune with KW’s homeless policy. I am acutely in touch with it, have been since late 2000, when I arrived here and started living on the street. I have been up to my eyeballs in Key West homeless policy ever sinse. I told the commissioners and mayor tonight that it was their homeless policy that caused Charles Eimers to be dead, and it was time they started doing something about his death and what caused it, even if their lawyer (the City Attorney, who works for them, answers to them, is hired and fired by them) tells them that would be crazy. What is crazy is saying nothing, hoping this case somehow will go away. Eimers’ family has engaged a KW plaintiff lawyer. He don’t strike me as the kind of fellow who will go away, even if the Florida Department of Law Enforcement doesn’t do anything. Even if the KWPD doesn’t do anything. Even if the City Manager and the City Commissioner don’t do anything. Nothing about Charles Eimer’s death and the ensuing events passes the smell test. I could say the same about America’s war in Iraq and its later war in Afghanistan. Karma is certain and inexorable. However, connecting the dots back to what caused it can be a challenge.
John, did you read the blue paper article in which one female KWPD officer at the scene said something to the effect that she wanted to off one of the other KWPD officers re what was done to Eimers? Did you see in a blue paper article a statement by a friend of one of the officers that that officer bragged about purring a knee on the back of the left shoulder of Eimers and elbowing him in the back of the neck, or maybe it was the back of his head, and uttered anti-homeless words about Eimers? In answer to your earlier comment, the KW Chief of Police answers directly to and works for and is hired and fired by the KW City Manager, who answers directly to and works for and is hired by the KW City Commission. At the end of tonight’s city commission meeting,, during closing citizen comments, I told the commissioners and mayor that I have yet to hear a word out of them about Charles Eimers death on South Beach. I told them it was the direct consequence of the city’s all-out effort to cause all its homeless people to leave the area, it was the city’s karma. Living way up Key Largo way, John, you might not be in tune with KW’s homeless policy. I am acutely in touch with it, have been since late 2000, when I arrived here and started living on the street. I have been up to my eyeballs in Key West homeless policy ever sense. I told the commissioners and mayor tonight that it was their homeless policy that caused Charles Eimers to be dead, and it was time they started doing something about his death and what caused it, even if their lawyer (the City Attorney, who works for them, answers to them, is hired and fired by them) tells them that would be crazy. What is crazy is saying nothing, hoping this case somehow will go away. Eimers’ family has engaged a KW plaintiff lawyer. He don’t strike me as the kind of fellow who will go away, even if the Florida Department of Law Enforcement doesn’t do anything. Even if the KWPD doesn’t do anything. Even if the City Manager and the City Commissioner don’t do anything. Nothing about Charles Eimer’s death and the ensuing events passes the smell test. Karma is certain and inexorable. However, connecting the dots back to what caused it can be a challenge.
“Broken ribs are often
the result of undergoing
CPR, said Monroe County
Medical Examiner Dr. E. Hunt
Scheuerman, who added that
he was speaking generally and
not about this specific case”
My 75 year old Father has had CPR on five separate occasions due to heart attacks.
He has never suffered a broken or fractured rib.
What are the symptoms?
A fractured rib may cause:
Mild to severe pain in the injured area.
Pain when you breathe.
Pain around the fracture when someone pushes on your breastbone.
If you can’t breathe normally because of pain or flail chest, you may:
Feel short of breath.
Feel anxious, restless, or scared.
Have a headache.
Feel dizzy, tired, or sleepy.
What happens when you break a rib?
Your ribs have two main jobs:
They protect the organs in your chest.
They help you breathe by keeping space open
inside your chest while the muscles you use
to breathe squeeze in, or contract. This leaves
plenty of space for your lungs to fill up with air.
The muscles used for breathing pull on the ribs,
so breathing may be very painful when you have a fractured rib.
Flail chest is a serious problem that happens when three or more ribs are broken in more than one place. If you have flail chest, the broken area can’t hold its shape when you take a breath. This leaves less space in your chest for your lungs to open and air to flow in. It also makes it harder for the muscles to work well, so it’s harder to take a breath.
Just wondering if Mr. Eimers had already suffered the broken ribs while prone in the sand under
the brutality and weight of 2 police officers? Flail chest occurs when 3 or more ribs are broken? How about 10? Could that have contributed to him
smothering to death Police brutality. It will be interesting to see if there was related damage to any of his other organs, ie. spleen, lungs, etc.