By BECKY MEAD
Becky Mead lives in Hailey.
I recently spent a weekend in the Twin Falls County Jail as part of my DUI sentence. While there I observed some mistreatment and heard of mistreatment by the ladies that I stayed with. I think it is important to let the public know the goings-on in this jail, as one day a loved one might be there.
I will start off with 37-year-old woman who had just returned to the jail from St. Luke's hospital the night I arrived. She had been treated at the jail for a urinary tract infection but it had gotten worse and went into her kidneys. Why she returned to the jail so soon was beyond me. The doctor told her she could stay in the hospital to get better. The doctor saw the medication that was given to her in the jail and told her that wasn't even the right medication for her condition. This woman told the doctor that the doctor in the jail wasn't an M.D., he was a veterinarian. No wonder her infection went into her kidneys. The doctor told the deputy that it was important that she receive her medication as prescribed.
While I was there, this wasn't being done, as this gal was complaining that she was overdue for her medication. When I left, her condition seemed to be worsening. She was cold and they wouldn't even give her an extra blanket. When I left, I covered her with my blanket and they made me go back and get it from her.
There was another young girl, 21, who had gallstones and told the veterinarian about it. He said to her, "What do you want me to do about it?" When I left, she was running a fever and wasn't being treated for her condition.
And yet another girl had been receiving Paxil for anxiety and depression and the jail had run out of her prescription for about three days. She was experiencing dizzy spells when I left.
There was another woman who has asthma and wasn't given her inhaler. Were they going to wait until she had an attack?
The deputy who brought back the woman from the hospital told the gal that if she didn't get her medication to call 911, for her life safety. The deputy was worried about her not getting the proper care when she returned to her cell.
The girls had told me that one of the girls in another cell had a tooth pulled (without any anesthetics) by the veterinarian, but he pulled the wrong tooth, not the infected one. Now this veterinarian thinks he is a dentist also.
The male deputies treat the women with disrespect, as far as foul language and throwing toilet paper rolls at them. These women fill out what's called KITES, a form to report a need or complaint. Some of them never had them returned to them, as if they were being thrown away.
Most of us know that jail food isn't that great, that's expectable. But this food they serve there is almost uneatable: Salisbury steak, rice and gravy, doused with a ton of salt that was hard to even swallow. Oatmeal that was gray, Kool-Aid doused with sugar, and fried baloney given on a regular basis. I'm not too upset with the food as I am with the health and welfare of these women, and I'm sure the men as well.
I had been there the month prior and they let me have my Fixodent for my teeth, but this time they wouldn't give it to me. I could only eat soft food.
We need to be aware how inmates are being treated, whether they are felons, misdemeanors or not. They are entitled, as human beings, to be treated with dignity and their health and welfare should be taken in to consideration.
