NOTE: Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Selena Zorrilla Mendoza tells the Outpost that her office is not releasing the gender or identity of the person they talk about in the press release below, nor did she know, immediately, what it is precisely the would-by smuggler attempted to smuggle, which apparently almost killed him/her.

We’ll update when we know more.

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UPDATE, 2:30 p.m.: We know more! Despite the carefully worded gender neutrality in the press release following, the Sheriff’s Office was happy to tell us that the person in question was male. They can’t tell us what the object or substance was, though, because  — as a jail administrator just pointed out to us — the medical emergency was handled in the hospital, which makes the information subject to all sorts of HIPAA restrictions.

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From the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office:

On Saturday, October 29, 2016 an inmate was booked into the Humboldt County Correctional Facility on a local warrant.

Due to the inmate’s prior history of smuggling drugs into the facility, the on duty Supervisor advised his staff to run the inmate through the Body Scanner. The scan of the inmate revealed a suspicious object in a body cavity. Staff isolated the inmate and had the inmate seen by medical staff.

The inmate began showing signs of deteriorating health such as high blood pressure, elevated pulse, and profuse sweating. An ambulance was called Code-3 and the inmate was transported, under guard, to a local hospital for treatment. Information from the deputy that accompanied the inmate to the hospital was that the inmate became non-responsive and required CPR. Hospital staff were able to resuscitate the inmate and get them in stable condition. The inmate received medical treatment at the hospital and returned to the Correctional Facility on November 1, 2016.

If not for the decision making of correctional staff and the use of the Body Scanner this situation may have had a very dire outcome for the inmate.