Re: Preble County deputy?s death linked to H1N1
Preble deputy dies
Captain contracted double pneumonia as H1N1 complication
BY PAM THARP AND RACHEL E. SHEELEY ? STAFF WRITERS ? November 7, 2009
EATON, Ohio -- A Preble County Sheriff's Department captain who had been diagnosed with H1N1 influenza died Friday evening.
Captain Mike Thornsberry, 38, had been hospitalized since Oct. 25 after he was taken by ambulance to Reid Hospital and then sent by helicopter to Indiana University Hospital in Indianapolis, Preble County Sheriff Mike Simpson said.
Thornsberry, who lived in New Paris, Ohio, had double pneumonia -- viral and bacterial -- that developed as a result of the flu, Simpson said.
The 15-year sheriff's department veteran became ill about Oct. 20 and was initially under his physician's care
Before his death Friday, Thornsberry had been in the Indiana University Hospital intensive care unit on a respirator and receiving dialysis to help his kidneys, Simpson said. He had been in a drug-induced coma since his first night at the IU hospital, so his body could concentrate on fighting the infection, the sheriff said.
Simpson and other deputies visited Thornsberry on Thursday evening.
"He had kind of a bad day (on Thursday)," Simpson said before Thornsberry's death. "I've never seen so many tubes running in and out of somebody."
H1N1, a flu strain not seen in this country for about 40 years, has mostly been a mild illness, as it was for the rest of Thornsberry's family.
Many who've suffered complications already had other health problems, but Thornsberry was a strapping 6-foot, 8-inch guy who weighed about 400 pounds, Simpson said, and had no real history of health problems.
Simpson said Thornsberry had been on many prayer chains.
"He's been pretty sick," Simpson said late Friday. "We had obviously hoped that he would get himself out of this and start to improve. The longer you're in that condition, the thought is always in the back of your mind, 'Is he going to be able to pull out of this?'"
Thornsberry had been with the sheriff's department since 1994 and was promoted to captain in July 2008. The 1989 Versailles High School graduate had been in law enforcement since his graduation from the academy in 1991 and worked for several town police departments, including New Paris, before joining the sheriff's department as a jail officer 15 years ago.
Simpson, who has been with the department for 22 years, said Thornsberry "was just a very good employee, a good supervisor for me. He's done a great job.
"He's going to be missed terribly," Simpson said.
Simpson said the sheriff's department will be helping the family make funeral plans and probably will release service information on Sunday afternoon.
Preble County officers and friends have been helping Thornsberry's wife, Michelle, as much as possible with daily expenses, especially with the travel and incidental costs of being at the hospital, Simpson said.
In addition to his wife, Thornsberry's immediate family includes two daughters, Faith and Allie Grace.
Thornsberry wasn't immunized against the H1N1 flu because law enforcement officers weren't on the priority list for the earliest doses of H1N1 vaccine, a decision made by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It's a decision Simpson said is a mistake.
"As many homes that law enforcement goes in, I'm not sure why public safety wasn't included in the priority groups," Simpson said. "We are usually there, too, if EMS is called. It didn't make a whole lot of sense to me."
The Preble County Health Department offered H1N1 vaccine to the sheriff's department after Thornsberry became seriously ill, Simpson said. About 20 to 25 officers received the immunization, which is voluntary, Simpson said.
On Friday, the Wayne County Health Department sent 20 more H1N1 doses to the Wayne County Sheriff's Department after Sheriff Matt Strittmatter requested more, public health coordinator Porter Miller said.
The Wayne County Sheriff's Department was offered vaccine through its jail nurses, Miller said. Richmond Fire Chief Mike Crawley coordinated H1N1 immunizations for Richmond firefighters and volunteer firefighters in the county.
There have been variations in how health departments interpreted the priority groups, Miller said. Some limited the vaccine to first responders who worked directly with patients, but Wayne County offered vaccine to anyone who responds to emergency calls, based on the vaccine availability.
"To my knowledge, everyone in those departments who wanted to be vaccinated has been," Miller said.
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