A teenage detainee at Casuarina’s Unit 18 youth detention area has been rushed to hospital and remains in a critical condition in hospital, WA’s Premier has revealed at a snap press conference on Thursday.
Roger Cook said the 16-year-old was found unresponsive in his cell during routine checks about 2am.
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“Staff commenced resuscitation immediately before the arrival of three paramedic teams,” Cook said.
“The teenager remains in the medical care at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital and is in a critical condition.”
Cook said the incident would be the subject of a thorough investigation and detainees and staff would be offered counselling and support.
Facilities in a standalone youth detention area at Casuarina Prison in Perth. Credit: AAP
“This is an incredibly regrettable situation. It’s deeply distressing and deeply saddening,” Cook said.
Corrective Services Minister Paul Papalia said the boy — who was individually housed in his cell, as all juveniles are — had contacted officers via the intercom moments before the emergency.
“It was only a matter of minutes from that moment until he was checked and found to be unresponsive and the officers commenced resuscitation,” Papalia said.
Unit 18 was created in 2022 as a short-term solution to damage at Banksia Hill Detention Centre, WA’s only other youth detention facility.
