Hypothermia hits prisoner in unheated cell in 3rd episode of ‘Death County, PA’
It isn’t just violent confrontations that may have led to people dying at the Dauphin County Prison. It’s also the temperature. And decisions made by prison staff about medical treatment.
That’s according to the third episode of the podcast “Death County, Pa.”, which was released on Monday and that tells the story of a years-long PennLive investigation into why so many prisoners at the Pennsylvania jail have passed away in recent years.
The third episode of the podcast, which was produced by Wondery in collaboration with PennLive, was released today on Apple, Spotify and wherever podcasts are available. New episodes are being released each Monday, and all six episodes are available to subscribers of Wondery Plus.
Narrated by PennLive Investigative Reporter Joshua Vaughn, the podcast rose to the top spot on Apple’s list of top podcast series two days after it was released.
The third episode delves into how Jamal Crummel, a man who suffered from mental health challenges, endured bitterly cold conditions in a prison cell that didn’t have heat.
His core body temperature dropped below 90 degrees and his skin was so damaged from the cold that a guard said it peeled off like tissue paper. He was hospitalized with severe hypothermia for more than a month.
Prison authorities decided not to transfer Crummel to a specialized medical unit in Pittsburgh — which would cost additional time and resources — and treated him at a local hospital instead. After his condition improved, Crummel was returned to the same cellblock where he suffered the condition in the first place.
The third episode explores who Crummel was and what happened to him after he was brought back to the jail.
The first two episodes of “Death County, Pa.” focused on the deaths of two other prisoners who died under suspicious circumstances.
Wondery has developed a number of award-winning, long-form podcast series, some of which have gone on to be produced into TV series.
PennLive is a news site run by Advance Local, one of the largest media groups in the United States, operating in 20 cities.