By Taylor MacPherson

Shauna Wolf moved out of medical cell hours before death

May 1, 2017 | 4:56 PM

The coroner’s inquest into the death of Shauna Wolf heard the 27-year-old was moved from a medical observation cell into a cell in the prison’s disciplinary segregation unit just hours before her death.

Wolf died while being held on remand at Pine Grove Correctional Centre in Prince Albert Dec. 27, 2015. A coroner’s inquest into the circumstances surrounding her death began this morning at Prince Albert’s Court of Queen’s Bench. Today the six-member jury heard from several corrections officers, a police investigator, one of the responding paramedics and the nurse who assessed Wolf at Pine Grove.

Patricia Marshall, who worked as a nurse at Pine Grove from 1996 until recently, testified Wolf was admitted to the medical wing for observation because she was experiencing drug withdrawal symptoms. Wolf, Marshall said, admitted to smuggling heroin into the prison inside her body but quickly exhausted her supply, leading to her withdrawal.

Marshall said Wolf’s symptoms were quite mild, but she was kept overnight in one of their medical observation cells which is equipped with a camera and a button to allow the occupants to summon staff for assistance.

In the morning when Wolf’s symptoms apparently improved, she was transferred to segregation to begin serving 10 days as punishment for bringing in the contraband heroin. According to corrections officer Lisa Nazar, the segregation cells are not equipped with cameras or any mechanism to alert staff to potential distress.

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Wolf was given a sandwich by staff shortly after 8 p.m. for her evening snack, requested paper and an envelope to write a letter, and did not respond to staff when she was offered her nightly medication approximately an hour later. Former corrections officer Heidi Huziek, who was working the night shift Dec. 27, testified that when Wolf did not appear to be moving the next time she made her rounds at approximately 10 p.m. she felt something must be wrong and called additional staff before opening the door to Wolf’s cell.

“She was purple in colour and foaming at the mouth,” Huziek said.

Huziek said she called for the prison nursing staff to bring a crash kit and defibrillator, and they administered CPR while waiting for paramedics to arrive. Wolf was rushed to hospital, but was pronounced dead shortly before midnight.

Throughout the day’s testimony, Pine Grove staff emphasized that nothing they saw indicated Wolf might have been in medical distress prior to her death. Marshall emphasized that Wolf’s withdrawal symptoms were very minor and did not include elevated blood pressure or heart rate, and noted Wolf was only kept in the medical wing for observation because one of their two cells happened to be available.

The inquiry is set to run until Friday. At the end of the inquiry the jury will present their conclusions as to the cause and manner of Wolf’s death, and make recommendations to prevent similar deaths from occurring in the future.

Taylor.macpherson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @TMacPhersonNews