Introduction
An outbreak of a coronavirus or flu infection in prison can cause significant losses among prisoners, especially if the cells are overcrowded and the sanitary situation already leaves much to be desired. People from socially and economically disadvantaged backgrounds are in places of detention. Even in freedom, they could experience difficulties obtaining medical services; their health condition may be worse than the national average. Prison conditions – limited access to health care, poor, malnutrition – can exacerbate existing health problems. Moreover, in overcrowded prisons, the likelihood of disease transmission increases due to overpopulation. In prison, preventing the spread of disease is much more difficult for medical staff; therefore, they need a plan, organization, communication, and special training.
Development of a Detailed Engagement Plan
Managing the COVID-19 or flu outbreak requires adequate planning and strong intersectoral engagement between health and justice or home affairs agencies, as applicable. These organizations are responsible for the health and well-being of people in prisons and other places of detention (International Committee of the Red Cross, 2020). Such collaboration is essential to ensure the sustainability of the healthcare delivery system in prisons and other places of detention.
A comprehensive risk assessment should be carried out at the beginning of the planning phase, which will then be regularly updated. Local public health authorities must be involved in the risk assessment work. Alternatively, they should lead the assessment work; the risk assessment should also include an assessment of the current epidemiological situation (International Committee of the Red Cross, 2020). It is essential to identify different levels of risk and how they can affect the situation in the prison system and other places of detention. For example, imported cases of infection in the country and the circulation of the virus in the country at the local level but on a limited scale (International Committee of the Red Cross, 2020). As well as the circulation of the virus at the local level, including circulation in the area where the prison is located; circulation of the virus in the institutions of the prison system.
A critical component of any preparedness plan for responding to a respiratory infectious disease such as COVID-19 and flu is having the necessary supplies, such as personal protective equipment, hand hygiene, and sanitization and disinfection. As such, prison governors are encouraged to work with healthcare professionals in prisons and other places of detention to assess the need for personal protective equipment, from now on, PPE and other essential supplies in their facilities to ensure the continuity of their availability (International Committee of the Red Cross, 2020). It should be noted that in order to avoid the misuse and inappropriate use of PPE, staff, and people in prisons should receive appropriate training.
In Prisons, Infectious Diseases Are More Contagious than Outside
In many countries, health services are weaker in places of detention than outside. In other words, prisoners receive fewer medical services than ordinary citizens (Simpson and Butler 1551). With a coronavirus outbreak, the medical needs of these vulnerable people will be high, and the prison healthcare system will most likely not have enough resources, in particular medicines and staff, to cope with this. The rate of its spread in places of detention will be higher due to the conditions of detention: such institutions are often overcrowded, do not have adequate ventilation, and the capacity of their medical services is limited (Simpson and Butler 1551). The causative agent of infection COVID-19 and flu spreads quite quickly.
Higher Chance of Infection Due to High Attendance
Once an infection enters a prison, its spread is complicated to contain. When it comes to infectious diseases, there is no need to talk about the impregnability of such places: employees and visitors come and go, prisoners leave them, and prisoners arrive – contact with the outside world constantly occurs (Simpson and Butler 1551). As soon as one person gets sick with the coronavirus in an overcrowded prison, hundreds of people are likely to be infected. Prisoners’ immunity may already be weakened by tuberculosis, human immunodeficiency virus, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, or other chronic diseases such as diabetes (Burki 1411). This means that the death rate in this prison will be higher than in other places.
Role of the Medical Staff
Controlling the spread of infection in prisons and other places of detention is essential to prevent outbreaks of COVID-19 and flu in these types of settings and to protect the health and well-being of all who live and here. In addition to all those who visit them, and serves to protect the public outside of prisons and places of detention. The possibility of implementing such control depends on how coordinated the efforts of medical workers and employees of these institutions are (Burki 1411). Detention staff should work with prison health teams, based on national protocols and country agreements, to identify cases of suspected infection among staff and manage these cases. Prison and detention facility staff should work with health care teams in these facilities to identify suspected cases of infection among prisoners, followed by their placement in isolation and clinical evaluation of the case.
Personnel Planning in an Emergency Situation
Particular attention should be paid to staffing and functional continuity, including the possibility of providing a minimum set of services at the local level. For example, dispensing life-saving drugs, monitoring blood glucose in diabetes, and dressing wounds (Burki 1411). In addition, it is worth paying attention to the need for medical services and the possibility of providing them. It is necessary to discuss the possibility and expediency of aiding patients directly in penitentiary institutions compared to transferring patients to civilian medical institutions to receive specialized medical care for intensive care (Armstrong 724). Plans should also be discussed to provide prisons and other places of detention with non-medical personnel in the event of an emergency.
Risk Management
Prison entry screening should be ensured: health teams and public health professionals should conduct a risk assessment of all people entering the prison area, whether or not there are suspected cases in the population outside the prison. In addition, collect information on any history of cough and dyspnea, as well as information on the patient’s recent movements and possible contact with patients with confirmed cases of infection within the last 14 days (Armstrong 724). Screening should be conducted among prisoners, detainees, visitors, and prison staff.
Clear communication of the situation must be ensured so that staff who have recently traveled to or returned from areas affected by COVID-19 or flu. If they are experiencing symptoms of infection and can self-isolate at home, staff in leadership positions can ensure a high level of vigilance and support to their subordinates. Visitors to prison detention should be advised well in advance so that the plans of those visiting from afar are not affected by the protection measures being put in place (Saloner et al. 602). Persons with symptoms of the disease should not be allowed to visit.
Employee Training
Staff training is at the core of any training plan for prisons and places of detention. Training activities should be adequately planned and targeted at medical and prison staff. Training activities should, at a minimum, cover the following areas. Basic information about the disease, including the pathogen, transmission routes, signs, and clinical presentation (Saloner et al. 602). In addition, it includes hand hygiene practices and respiratory etiquette, proper use and requirements for PPE, and measures to prevent environmental contamination.
Why is the Topic of Medical Personnel in Prisons Important?
The issue of infectious disease precautions is particularly acute because of the extreme vulnerability of prisoners. The talk is about social and medical vulnerability; these people do not have access to the outside world and may not be aware of effective methods for combating infectious diseases. That is why healthcare workers in prisons need to use unique methods of preparation and prevention for the conditions of the epidemic.
Conclusion
Finally, before embarking on any initiative, it is essential to ensure that all people in prison participate in a wide-ranging awareness-raising effort so that both people in prison/detention and visitors can obtain information in advance and understand what procedures will be implemented, why they are necessary and how they will be applied in practice. It is essential to clarify any potentially restrictive measures, emphasizing that the restrictions are temporary.
Works Cited
Armstrong, Stephen. “The prison service is still failing inmates’ healthcare needs.” BMJ, 2020, p. 724., Web.
Burki, Talha. “Prisons are ‘in no way equipped to deal with Covid-19.” The Lancet, vol. 395, no. 10234, 2020, pp. 1411–1412, Web.
International Committee of the Red Cross. “Covid-19: Protecting prison populations from infectious coronavirus disease.” International Committee of the Red Cross, 2020, Web.
Saloner, Brendan, et al. “Covid-19 cases and deaths in federal and state prisons.” JAMA, vol. 324, no. 6, 2020, p. 602., Web.
Simpson, Paul L, and Tony G Butler. “Covid-19, prison crowding, and release policies.” BMJ, 2020, p. 1551., Web.