CO Springs Officers Will No Longer Take Fitness Tests After Discrimination Lawsuit

[John Hearne]

My wife was injured during poorly conducted PT at the police academy. She ended up with a labral tear in her hip that precluded her return to law enforcement and has lasting consequences to this day. The wonderful, highly competent worker's comp doctor signed a letter that OK'ed her return to work with an injury that actually required surgical intervention to correct. We had to go to a competent doctor, pay for an MRI out of pocket, and then get a lawyer to have her hip fixed.

My ankle got REALLY messed up on the second injury. I had a mild injury at the end of a longer run on a irregular surface. I immediately went to the clinic. I told everyone I talked to - the receptionist, the nurse who screened me, and the PA/Doc who saw me - that I had a prior history of injury to the same ankle that had required extensive physical therapy to repair. They gave me some 800mg Ibuprofen. This occurred on a Saturday and I specifically asked if I should run on Monday. They said "don't worry." I ran on Monday, it was the last time I ran for two years afterwards.

Let's just say that employees in the public sector don't get the best care. You'd almost think we were expendable cogs in a machine.

[Dagga Boy]

A little known fact is that at many contract clinics where first responders are treated, their x Ray equipment cannot see broken bones and every injury is a "minor sprain". Diagnoses is limited to the extent of injury being a 1 ibuprofen or 2 ibuprofen level, and you can always go back to work in a day or two (relative to the number of ibuprofen). A two day, two Ibuprofen injury can be translated to some serious surgery and likely something you will never recover from.

There are no smilies with this post for a reason...it is a very serious post.

[BehindBlueI's]

Diagnoses is limited to the extent of injury being a 1 ibuprofen or 2 ibuprofen level, and you can always go back to work in a day or two (relative to the number of ibuprofen). A two day, two Ibuprofen injury can be translated to some serious surgery and likely something you will never recover from.

They must get their equipment and personnel from the military and/or VA.

[Dagga Boy]

They must get their equipment and personnel from the military and/or VA.

Which is equally sad.

[Nephrology]

A little known fact is that at many contract clinics where first responders are treated, their x Ray equipment cannot see broken bones and every injury is a "minor sprain". Diagnoses is limited to the extent of injury being a 1 ibuprofen or 2 ibuprofen level, and you can always go back to work in a day or two (relative to the number of ibuprofen). A two day, two Ibuprofen injury can be translated to some serious surgery and likely something you will never recover from.

There are no smilies with this post for a reason...it is a very serious post.

Well, to be fair, some small/subtle fractures won't be visible on films at all, no matter the machine, though a higher quality/higher resolution film is always more helpful. Also, if something is very fractured, you should be able to see it easily on any X-ray machine, even one from a century ago. Non-union or comminuted fractures will be super obvious.

I am training in a "county" (actually, city, but we are "county" in spirit) hospital and we are the safety net system for the lower income and also the biggest/busiest level 1 trauma center in the state. Pretty much anytime a cop gets shot in our city, they come to us. We don't always have the best equipment, and it's not always in the best condition, but if I got shot there is no other ER I would rather be. The dedication and skill of our docs, nurses and techs is second to none, and they do far more with far less than anyone in the state. All this to say that at the end of the day it's down to the provider, not their equipment. Indian and arrow applies here too.

[Dagga Boy]

I went back a couple times and told the staff "this really feels broken"....nope just a sprain. Finally went to my own podiatrists who was seething when he put the X-Ray up and said "see this gigantic black thing, that is what broken looks like". The entire top of my foot was stress fractured. Now we could see missing the two additional big cracks on the ankle itself, but when I saw the x-Ray, I was pissed as this was obvious. I figured out later why this happens. When you go to get a medical evaluation for the state to arbitrate a disputed finding.....guess which medical records the city sends? If you guess the "just a sprain" records, you would be right. Then a gigantic fight again because that crook (I worked a ton of insurance fraud...the guy they sent me to was on the other side when the pendulum was on that side, he was the type we prosecuted) then ruled they I was "too injured to return to work, but the injury was not work related because the injury was so extensive it could not have been from a sprain". And people wonder why I am so filled with hatred.