Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office press release:

A Humboldt County Correctional Deputy is credited for saving an inmate’s life on Monday.

On July 2, 2018, Correctional Deputy Anthony Silva was supervising a male minimum-security dorm within the Humboldt County Correctional Facility during what he thought would be an ordinary dinner.

“During dinner time I heard an inmate yell for help,” Deputy Silva said. “I saw an inmate attempting to help another man who was choking on his dinner.”

With just seconds to act, Silva quickly sprang into action, performing the Heimlich maneuver on the inmate. After approximately five to six Hiemlich thrusts, the food dislodged from the inmate’s throat. He was later cleared by medical staff at the facility.

Silva’s says medical training provided to correctional staff prepared him for this situation.

“This is something that we train for often. It feels good to use that training to help another person,” Silva said. “Being a correctional deputy isn’t like an ordinary job. We aren’t just here to get a paycheck. We’re here to help these inmates reach their highest potential, to show them there are people that care about them and want to see them succeed.”

Correctional deputies have saved three lives in just the last two months at the Humboldt County Correctional Facility. Silva has assisted in these incidents as well. 

There are currently 395 inmates housed at the Humboldt County Correctional Facility. Each shift has approximately 19 correctional deputies that are responsible for the care and custody of the inmates.

Correctional deputies spend an average of 12 hours per day directly interacting with inmates. This style of direct supervision, along with crucial training, has enabled deputies to discern when inmates may be experiencing distress prior to an incident occurring.

Humboldt County Sheriff William Honsal commends Correctional Deputy Silva for his quick thinking and life-saving action.