Delayed Emergency Response

There's no bright-line rule—it depends on the emergency. For cardiac arrest, even 2-3 minutes can be fatal; for a heart attack, 30 minutes of delay may be critical. We compare the jail's response time to medical standards for the specific condition and examine whether earlier action would have changed the outcome.

Jail staff are trained to recognize medical emergencies. If obvious symptoms—chest pain, difficulty breathing, seizures, unresponsiveness—were present and staff failed to act, that demonstrates deliberate indifference. We examine training records and whether staff followed protocols.

Yes. The issue isn't whether they eventually called—it's whether the delay was constitutionally unreasonable. If 20 minutes elapsed between the emergency and the 911 call, or 40 minutes before EMS arrived because no one was ready at the gate, those delays may have caused the death.

Policy compliance isn't a defense if the policies themselves are inadequate. If jail policies allow 30-minute response times for medical emergencies, the policies violate constitutional standards. We challenge both individual actions and systemic policy failures.

We work with medical experts who can testify about survival rates with prompt treatment versus delayed treatment. For example, cardiac arrest survival drops 10% for every minute without CPR. Our experts calculate whether timely response would have saved your loved one's life.

Common failures include: staff not recognizing emergency symptoms, delays in notifying medical staff, delays in calling 911, no on-site emergency equipment (AED, Narcan), EMS delayed at the jail entrance, and lack of CPR-trained staff. Each represents potential liability.

Yes. Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) can save lives during cardiac arrest. Given the high rate of opioid-related deaths in custody, Narcan (naloxone) should be available to reverse overdoses. Failure to have this basic equipment available may constitute deliberate indifference.

Pain is a symptom of serious conditions. Chest pain can indicate heart attack. Abdominal pain can indicate appendicitis or bowel obstruction. Severe headache can indicate stroke or aneurysm. Staff who dismiss pain complaints without evaluation may be deliberately indifferent.

Yes. This falls under Monell liability. If the county's policy is to operate without adequate on-site medical coverage, and that policy caused delayed response, the county itself can be liable for the systemic failure—not just individual staff.

We examine whether jail procedures unnecessarily delayed EMS access. If policies require extensive security checks while an inmate is dying, those policies may be unconstitutional. The Constitution requires reasonable accommodation for medical emergencies.

Families can recover funeral expenses, pre-death pain and suffering, loss of companionship, loss of financial support, and punitive damages against officials who ignored obvious emergencies. Attorney's fees are recoverable under Section 1988 if you prevail.

Section 1983 claims in Oklahoma have a 2-year statute of limitations from the date of death. State wrongful death claims require a Tort Claim Notice within 1 year. Surveillance footage and 911 recordings may be deleted quickly—contact us immediately.