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inside correctional health

Health Training for Correctional Officers

Even before the pandemic, annual or biannual and lacking in substance. The response to the train­
correctional officer training could be a daunting and ing was unenthusiastic, to say the least. I could see it
time­consuming process. Now, with added staffing in their faces, which were pushed against the outer
challenges, social distancing, and virtual “every­ windows of our jail, envious of the “fun” training
thing,” getting your staff trained can be even more that our motor patrol deputies were enjoying.
difficult than before. Let’s face it. Training can be a great escape from
Thinking back over my career, I remember the the tense environment in which our officers work.
boring, out­of­date videos that we were required to Training should be relevant, engaging, and fun! I
watch in order to meet our training­hour require­ decided it was time for a transformation.
ments. Do you remember? The VHS tape with the What did I do? I empowered them. I solicited
scenarios set in an industrial area or a neighborhood their thoughts on topics and found ways to integrate
pool? The technician who is experiencing a heart their ideas with the state­mandated requirements
attack, lying next to the breaker box and leaving us to and NCCHC’s standards. Gone were the days of the
wonder what caused the event. Was he electrocuted? boring VHS tapes; long, mundane lectures; and an
Is the area safe? Is there any help around? What are unknown representative from the local Red Cross.
you to do? In came real­life scenarios that our officers would
And the pool. A child is found floating facedown actually encounter in a jail environment, an interac­
by a parent in the pool. You are the first responder. tive and participative model where they learned
The child is not breathing, and the mother is frantic. from each other, and the use of professionals who
What are you to do? were already in the building. We invited our quali­
Or how about pulling up in an affluent neighbor­ fied health care professionals to teach our staff,
hood and responding to an unresponsive infant? You then asked our staff to include them in our tactical
assume shaken baby syndrome, but it turns out to be training. If we were going to do something tactical,
a case of SIDS. Important? Yes. Outdated? Probably. our health care staff needed to be on standby and
Boring after the 10th time you’ve seen it? Absolutely! informed on what was getting ready to occur, espe­
What kind of training does your facility provide? cially if there was chance of injury, introduction of
How did the pandemic affect the way you con­ a chemical agent, number of potential victims, and
ducted mandatory training? Or was all training put everything in­between.
on hold until “normal” returned? I encourage you to invest in your staff. Ask them
Everyone, and I mean everyone, understands that to help you to build their training program. When
sometimes, exigent circumstances call for alterations, you do this, take a look at your policies and proce­
Plan Bs, and creativity. We just went through more dures, as well. Make sure that your policy matches
than a year of exigent circumstances. But how will you your practice. You will be amazed at how eager the
come out of the pandemic, and how will your creativ­ staff is to learn, how well your training will improve,
ity over the last 12 to 18 months change your processes and how staff morale will rise. It worked for me.
going forward? Below, you will see some of our observations from
In this issue’s Jail Commander series, we look sites across the country. If this resonates with you,
at health care training for correctional officers. take a look at your own system and let us know how
NCCHC’s Standards for Health Services in Jails calls we can help.
for a number of required topics, but it does not dic­
tate how you train for them; therefore, some creativ­ JIM MARTIN, MPSA, CCHP
ity is necessary. On the following page, you will find Vice President, Program Development
the standard’s purpose, why it is important, and jamesmartin@ncchc.org
the list of topics. But first I want to share how I “got
creative” at my own facility. AMY PANAGOPOULOS, MBA, BSN, RN
When I arrived as an assistant jail commander, the Vice President, Accreditation
National Commission on Correctional Health Care
training for our correctional officers was old, stale, amyp@ncchc.org

52 | SEPTEMBER | OCTOBER 2021 AMERICANJails