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May 31, 2006 10:36 pm US/Central
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Police: Patient Died After Taken To Hospital
Eau Claire, Wis. (AP) ―
Staff members at a counseling center had been restraining a 7-year-old patient for alleged behavior issues before she passed out and later died, officials said Wednesday.
Angellika Arndt, a resident of Rusk County, died Friday at Children's Hospital & Clinics of Minnesota in Minneapolis.
Rice Lake police are "continuing to investigate the circumstances at the time of death, including that the child was being restrained by staff members for alleged behavioral issues," according to a department statement released Wednesday.
Police were called to the Northwest Counseling and Guidance Clinic in Rice Lake at 1:33 p.m. Thursday on a report that a girl was unresponsive.
Denison Tucker, president of the clinic's board of directors, said they've done an internal review and determined their staff, which is trained and licensed, followed proper procedures for the hold.
He couldn't comment specifically on the girl's situation but said the hold is used only if a child is in danger of harming him or herself or another person.
The girl had calmed down, was released and later passed out, he said.
Police said investigators, Barron County District Attorney Angela L. Holmstrom and the Hennepin County (Minn.) medical examiner's office would meet Thursday to discuss the cause of death.
The Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services was also investigating and expects to be finished by Friday, Tucker said.
Messages left at the police department Wednesday night were not immediately returned.
(© 2006 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)