Grand Jury Finds Lack of Accountability for Medical Services at Santa Cruz Jails

The report includes a variety of findings and recommendations.

From the section about the death of Sharyon Gibbs:

"In November 2014 a 65­ year old female was arrested, jailed, and then died while in custody. A nurse completed her intake health screen and at that time the inmate did not make a complaint. She had previously been incarcerated, so her medical history was on record. She was not housed in the “O” unit, the wing of the jail where those who need increased medical observation are housed. Instead, she was housed in “G” unit with the general population for 36 hours before she filed a medical request.

"On the night of her death, around midnight, she complained of back pain to the on­duty Corrections Officer (CO). The CO alerted the on­duty nurse who took the inmate’s vital signs. Vital signs did not indicate that the inmate was in distress. She was placed on a lower bunk. More than an hour later she requested pain medication. She was checked again approximately one hour later. Subsequently, when she did not come to get her morning medications, the CO went to investigate. She was found unresponsive at 4:30 am; the nurse was called, who took vital signs and then sounded a panic alarm (Code 3) and began cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). The inmate was pronounced dead at 5:25 am. The official autopsy determined that the inmate died of natural causes.

"The Grand Jury reviewed the jail records made available to the Grand Jury, pertaining to the medical care of the deceased inmate. The next of kin gave the Grand Jury a release to view the full medical records, however CFMG did not provide access to these records. Within the limited access provided, no substantive medical care deficits were found relative to current protocol as understood by the jurors. With respect to the handling of the Code 3, the subsequent management of the scene and the death investigation, we identified no deviations from policy or protocol."

Santa Cruz County Grand Jury
http://www.co.santa-cruz.ca.us/default.aspx?tabid=895