Opinion ID: 181301
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Officers' Alleged Failure to Provide Medical Care

Text: The Estate claimed that Officers Zimmerman, Oakes, and Oliver failed to adequately respond when Sallenger stopped breathing after being hobbled. The Fourth Amendment's objective reasonableness standard applies; the Estate's claim pertains to the medical needs of a person under arrest who has not yet had a judicial determination of probable cause. Williams v. Rodriguez, 509 F.3d 392, 403 (7th Cir.2007); see also Sides v. City of Champaign, 496 F.3d 820, 828 (7th Cir. 2007) (The governing standard at the time of arrest [for medical-care claims] is the Fourth Amendment's ban on unreasonable seizures.); Lopez v. City of Chicago, 464 F.3d 711, 718-19 (7th Cir.2006). Generally speaking, four criteria are examined to determine whether officers responded reasonably to a detainee's need for medical care: (1) the officer's notice of the detainee's need for medical attention; (2) the seriousness of the need; (3) the nature or scope of the required treatment; and (4) any countervailing police interests, e.g., the need to prevent the destruction of evidence, or other similar law-enforcement interest. Williams, 509 F.3d at 403. It is undisputed that Sallenger stopped breathing within a few minutes of being hobbled; the focus here is on the reasonableness of the officers' response once they realized he was unconscious. The Estate argues that the record supports an inference of a seven-minute gap between the time the officers realized Sallenger was unconscious and the time they began to administer CPR and summon paramedics. This seven-minute lag, the Estate contends, was unreasonably long given the life-threatening nature of Sallenger's medical need. At summary judgment we draw all inferences from the evidence in the Estate's favor, but those inferences must be both reasonable and find support in the record. See Singer v. Raemisch, 593 F.3d 529, 533 (7th Cir.2010). The record does not reasonably support the inference that the officers waited seven minutes before rendering aid. As we have noted, the Estate's argument rests on the timing of two calls from the scene that appear in the transcript of the police-radio tape recording. As these events were rapidly unfolding, an unidentified officer radioed the following information to the dispatcher at 2:15 a.m.: [w]hite male, late 30's [sic], unconscious, unresponsive. At 2:22 a.m. Lieutenant Bridges radioed that he was out at the scene. The Estate suggest that these two calls permits an inference that the officers waited seven minutes before beginning to administer medical care. We disagree. Without something more, these two calls do not support a reasonable inference that the officers did absolutely nothing for seven minutes after realizing Sallenger was not breathing. And there is nothing in the record to supply the something more that is necessary to make such an inference reasonable. To the contrary, all three officers and Sallenger's sister, Kim Nolanthe primary witness for the Estatetestified consistently that as soon as the officers realized Sallenger was unconscious, they removed the hobble, began CPR, and summoned an ambulance. This took place immediately after Lieutenant Bridges arrived at the scene. Lieutenant Bridges corroborated this account. He also testified that it would be incorrect to interpret the call log as pinpointing the precise time of his arrival; it established only that at 2:22 a.m. he radioed the dispatcher to report that he had arrived. The log also reflects that paramedics were summoned just one minute later, at 2:23 a.m. Accordingly, all the witnesses agree that the officers administered medical care very soon, if not immediately, after realizing that Sallenger was not breathing; the call log is insufficient to undermine this testimonial unanimity. The Fourth Amendment requires reasonableness, not immediacy. Everyone agrees that the officers endured a tense and dangerous physical ordeal to subdue and restrain Sallenger, a very large man who was actively psychotic. Events unfolded rapidly: The officers arrived at the home just after 2 a.m., a violent struggle ensued, Sallenger was brought under control and stopped breathing some minutes later, and at 2:23 a.m. paramedics were summoned. On this record, the district court was right to conclude that the evidence does not support the Estate's claim that the officers' response to Sallenger's medical needs was unreasonable. Accordingly, summary judgment was properly entered in favor of the officers on the Fourth Amendment medical-care claim.