The Thurston County Sheriff’s Office (TCSO) will use a new piece of technology to upgrade its monitoring of high-risk inmates at the county jail.
The agency will purchase seven wall- and ceiling-mounted biomedical sensors that provide critical data showing inmates’ resting heart and respiratory rates so jail and medical staff can react quickly to emergency situations.
Sensors monitor heart rate, movement of the individual and respiratory rate. The equipment is able to monitor vitals through clothing and blankets and is also fireproof, waterproof and shatter resistant.
The cost of the purchase is $48,268. It was approved by the Thurston County Board of County Commissioners during its Tuesday meeting.
TCSO Undersheriff Ruben Mancillas and Sheriff Derek Sanders told the commissioners during a May 13 agenda-setting meeting that the equipment will be used for inmates with medical and mental health concerns.
“The monitor will alarm the station being monitored if there’s a change in breathing rate, pulse, anything like that. We’re trying to install them in a couple of our cells and be able to monitor them the entire time that they’re in there versus just the checks that we do on a timely basis,” Mancillas said, adding that most of the payment is provided by a grant from the Washington Counties Risk Pool.
Sanders said this equipment will fill in gaps between routine checks by corrections deputies.
“It was two weeks ago or last week where one of our corrections deputies did a cell check, saw a person and walked away. (The inmate) knew they had 15 minutes, and they tried to kill themselves," Sanders said. “It just so happened that the deputy was like, ‘Oh, I forgot something,’ and walked back by and was like, ‘Whoa!’ This is something that will fill the gaps.”
Mancillas said the department chose the wall- and ceiling-mounted sensors over a wristband option due to potential damage of or refusal to wear the wristband from inmates.
Sanders shared that there is a model or brand of sensor that can track multiple heartbeats at a time and that the agency will look into that possibility in the future.
