Ohio DRC has recently mandated that CO’s learn CPR. They are also mandating CO’s perform CPR on inmates if the situation warrants. Is this good or not? Several CO’s where I work say they will NOT perform CPR on an inmate, regardless of the consequences. Other states already have a CPR mandate in place and have accepted it as a job requirement, but it seems that it’s always difficult to get the rank and file to accept ANYTHING new. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

We are “mandated here” almost anything mandated from the state cant be good.

Personally believe it should be the individuals choice wether or not to perform CPR. Why not offer CPR certification to inmates? I’m sure more of them would be more likely to be willing to do CPR on a fellow inmate than any staff would.

WOW! I hope doctors and nurses in the ER don’t ever feel like that. Folks, isn’t it part of what we get paid for; because inmates/prisoners are the State, County, or Institutions (our employers) responsibility? Why do suicide watch on at-risk prisoners then, should we just let prisoners check on them too? Also, if we choose not to perform CPR on an inmate, how does one put into words to the family of the deceased how I as a Correctional Officer, stood by and chose to ensure their son or daughters death. Besides that, CPR is relying more and more heavily on chest compressions then giving breaths anyways (it’s getting simpler). I know this sounds very harsh, but if Corrections is going to get a good name in the public’s eye, it’s going to come from professionalism and doing one’s moral duty; not standing around and watching someone die cuz it “ain’t my job to save em”!

Lets assume your are performing CPR on an inmate and are giving him mouth to mouth. Then due to what ever reason he coughs or spits blood into your mouth. Now most of the inmates that I work with have either HIV or one of the Hepatitis virus’s. How do you explain to your wife/girlfriend that you have either to wait for the all clear or that you now have one of the above because you wanted to play “Hero” and save a Dirt Bird. I would rather face a deceased inmates family rather than commit Biological Suicide.

Where most Officers have a problem with this is exactly what Mick brought up. It is no secret HIV and Hepatitis are rampant within the correctional setting. A simple solution to this would be to provide the Officers with Ambu bags, just like are used when the medical professionals take over on the scene. I would have no problem performing the CPR using an Ambu bag instead of the normal mouth to mouth. Our institution provided officers with disposable CPR masks, but officers are still uncomfortable with this. The Ambu bags would eliminate the need for mouth to mouth of any kind, and most likely officers would be less hesitant about performing CPR in this manner. They are rather inexpensive and could be issued in every area of the institutions.

This is why we have Medical Officers. They are trained in the in the use of the portable Defibrillator’s and M.A.R.S. equipment (Mobile Artificial Respirator System). We have always at least 5 Medical staff in the prison at any time. So if there is a need for medical intervention they deal with it.

That’s what most of the officers argument in Ohio involved as well. We have medical staff who are professionals in dealing with these types of situations, and have the proper equipment. You will not find a nurse performing mouth to mouth, but rather using an Ambu bag, just like the officers have asked for. Instead they gave us disposable one way masks we are fully expected to use and they give us a CPR certification class in our inservice training once a year. They have drills all the time to show our nurses/medical staff can respond to these types of situations in a very timely manner, yet if we’re not jumping in and already have it going, we could face discipline. I don’t mind helping, I just want to be safe myself, give the officers the same type of protection you give the medical staff, that’s all.

With us it is the opposite situation. If we as “Untrained Medical Staff” even attempted to get involved other than the most basic treatment we would get a severe bollixing from management for “Endangering the inmate”.

Must be nice. I guess that once a year training they give us makes us “trained medical responders”. So now they can discipline us for not helping. If Ohio was half as tough on the felons as they are on the Officers, it would be a great place to work.

Our officers are CPR Certified. Whether they would actually take any action if the need arose is another question. I think they should be required to respond when medical personnel are not available. We do not have 24/7 medical here. Proper training is a must, and any officer who doesnt know how to reduce his/her risks should take a quick stroll to the medical department for answers. Mind you, as correctional officers you are at risk everyday of your employment to being exposed to HIV, AIDS, HEP, MRSA, Scabies….... Why is this so hard for most (not all) officers to understand. Education is key.

Wondered how long it would take for a medical person to pop in on this one. We DO have 24/7 medical at our institution, and they are tested all the time to have a <3 minute response time to any medical emergency. Yes we ARE at risk every day from all of the things you mentioned, as are you, but would you be jumping into any of those potentially dangerous situations without the proper protection or training? Not likely. I am not a medical professional, and have no desire to be, just like most medical has no desire to do the C/O’s job. A C/O should NOT be disciplined for not performing medical procedures on inmates, just as you will never see medical getting disciplined for not responding to a man down alarm, as they stand around while one is happening.