Testimony: If cops did CPR soon after Floyd stopped breathing, survival more likely
Prosecutors push charge that three former MPD officers failed to provide medical aid as they were trained to do
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Updated 11:45 a.m.
Police training is at the core of a federal trial of three former Minneapolis police officers. Testimony from prosecution witnesses continues Tuesday, with a Minneapolis police officer who does medical training expected to take the stand.
Prosecutors have tried to demonstrate to jurors that officers Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane ignored their training and department policies when they assisted officer Derek Chauvin in restraining George Floyd, causing his death on May 25, 2020. Defense attorneys have questioned whether Minneapolis training adequately prepared the officers to intervene with Chauvin.
Minneapolis Police Department medical support coordinator Nicole Mackenzie returned to the stand Tuesday after testifying Monday that officers are required to provide care for those in custody.
She told jurors Tuesday that officers at the police academy are trained that “If you can’t detect a pulse after about 10 seconds, then you should give the patient CPR.” The pulmonologist who testified Monday said Floyd’s heart had been stopped for more than three minutes before CPR was attempted.
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Mackenzie also testified that officers are taught to put people showing signs of “excited delirium” into a side recovery position to “alleviate positional asphyxia.” She said that they could be moved to this position and still kept under control.
Floyd also had fentanyl in his system. Mackenzie said officers are trained to give people they suspect of having drugs in their system a dose of the opioid overdose antidote Narcan. Officers didn’t administer Narcan to Floyd.
The topic of excited delirium has been broached repeatedly by defense attorneys. The condition, which is defined by erratic behavior and so-called “superhuman” strength, is taught widely to law enforcement officers but is controversial in medical circles.
Thao, Kueng and Lane are charged with failing to provide medical care to Floyd. Thao and Kueng are also charged with failing to intervene with Chauvin’s use of force on Floyd.
Court reconvened on Monday, following a delay last week after one of the defendants tested positive for COVID-19. Dr. David Systrom, a pulmonologist who works for Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, testified that Floyd died from asphyxia — or lack of oxygen.
Systrom’s testimony contradicted that of Hennepin County Medical Examiner Andrew Baker, who found no evidence of asphyxia. When asked about this disagreement, Systrom noted that Baker testified earlier at the trial that he’d defer to a pulmonologist on the issue of asphyxia.
Systrom also said that the asphyxia was caused by the pressure put on Floyd’s neck by Chauvin, and the pressure of the other officers on his body while he was handcuffed in the prone position.
He said Floyd had a much better chance of surviving if officers had performed CPR soon after he stopped breathing. Systrom estimated that officers continued to restrain Floyd in the prone position for about three minutes after his breathing stopped.
Defense attorney Robert Paule pressed Systrom on a photo of him taken at a vigil for Floyd in June 2020. Systrom said his hospital organized the vigil and agreed that it was a vigil about “systematic racism.” Under prosecution questioning, Systrom said that attending the vigil had no effect on his medical opinions on the case.
Defense attorney Thomas Plunkett also pressed Systrom about whether his client Kueng had access to all the knowledge the doctor did when he conducted his analysis of Floyd’s causes of death.
“He knew when Mr. Floyd lost his pulse,” Systrom responded to Plunkett. “To a degree, with respect to the very important things, Mr. Kueng had very similar information in real time.”
The trial started on Jan. 20 with jury selection. The judge has told jurors that he expects the trial to last for about a month.