Youth prison nurses failed to detect ailing appendix

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MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A newspaper reports that nurses at Wisconsin’s youth prison didn’t recognize an inmate’s appendix was about to burst.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports prison officials fired the nurse Kitty Hasse in connection with the 2016 incident and three other instances where she allegedly provided inadequate care.

Three other nurses who worked with the 14-year-old inmate weren’t disciplined. The Department of Corrections spokesman Tristan Cook said they received additional training.

Documents the newspaper obtained show the boy was first seen on Feb. 6, 2016. Four days later his pulse was over 120 beats a minute, a level that mandates DOC nurses contact a doctor. That wasn’t done.

Guards found the boy’s cell covered with vomit on Feb. 12 and rushed him to a hospital. He underwent emergency surgery and survived.

The FBI is currently investigating allegations of widespread abuse at the prison.