SLO County Jail inmate hospitalized after possible overdose

Update, 6:15 p.m.: McKnight was being treated at French Hospital Medical Center on Saturday and had improved to good condition, a spokeswoman told The Tribune.

San Luis Obispo County Jail released a 65-year-old inmate Friday after he experienced a medical emergency possibly brought on by a drug overdose, authorities said.

Bruce McKnight was transported to a local hospital May 22 and was in critical condition Friday, the Sheriff's Office said in a news release.

McKnight was booked into the jail April 12 "as a court remand for several drug-related charges."

He was still in custody when the medical emergency occurred May 22. At around 6 p.m. that evening, other inmates notified a jail deputy that McKnight needed assistance.

"The correctional deputy found Mr. McKnight unresponsive on his bed, not breathing and with no pulse," according to the sheriff's office statement.

The sheriff's office said that the deputy then began CPR while 911 was called; deputies used a defibrillator on McKnight and also the anti-overdose medication Narcan, which counteracts opioids, "after other inmates indicated that Mr. McKnight may have obtained an illegal narcotic substance."

The sheriff's office said McKnight regained his pulse "after seven minutes of high-performance CPR."

The sheriff's office said the jail's chief medical officer was present when McKnight regained consciousness. The statement did not specify what involvement Sheriff Ian Parkinson had in the response.

"After the incident, the jail area where Mr. McKnight was housed was searched by correctional staff and a narcotic detection K9. No narcotics were found during the search," according to the statement.

The sheriff's office said McKnight "has chronic medical conditions requiring advanced medical care, which required his transportation to a local hospital on four different occasions since his incarceration, including this transport."

As a result of this medical emergency, a judge ordered McKnight to be removed from the jail's custody "under compassionate release conditions."

"This has allowed him to see his family and focus on his health and well-being," according to the sheriff's office.

McKnight's medical emergency comes as the jail and sheriff's office grapple with calls for reform following the deaths of 12 inmates since 2012, most notably the death of Andrew Holland following 46 hours in a restraint chair.

This story was originally published June 2, 2018 at 12:39 PM with the headline "SLO County Jail inmate hospitalized after possible overdose."