Woloszyn v. County of Lawrence.

U.S. Appeals Court

EMERGENCY CARE

Woloszyn v. County of Lawrence, 396 F.3d 314 (3rd Cir. 2005). The administratrix of a pretrial detainee who committed suicide in jail brought a [section] 1983 action and wrongful death claims against and county and corrections officers. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of the defendants and the administratrix appealed. The appeals court affirmed, finding that the administratrix failed to establish that the corrections officers were aware of the detainee's vulnerability to suicide. The court noted that even though a captain said he would put the detainee on five-minute checks, he also said that he would follow a nurse's advice. The nurse found the detainee to be polite, cooperative and alert, and cleared the detainee for one-hour checks for signs of alcohol withdrawal. The detainee told a booking officer he was not suicidal and appeared to be in good spirits. The court also held that the fact that a breathing mask was not in its designated location did not constitute deliberate indifference. Upon finding the detainee hanging by a sheet, officers immediately initiated CPR without waiting for the protective mask to arrive, they continued CPR until a protective breathing mask arrived, and the administratrix did not claim that immediate use of the protective mask would have prevented the detainee's death. The court found that the administratrix's expert failed to identify what specific type of training would have alerted officers to the fact that the detainee was suicidal. (Lawrence County Correctional Facility, Pennsylvania)