ISCC CREATES NEW AND EASIER WAYS TO SPREAD CONTAGION THROUGHOUT THE PRISON - WITH PILL PASS LINES
Prior to April 1, 2020, nurses would wheel their pill carts to each unit in the ISCC to distribute medications 3 times a day. This allowed staff to closely monitor the (actual) taking of prescribed medications, from aspirin to opioids, anti-seizure meds to female hormones on the tiers. This method limited the number of prisoner interactions and maintained both security as well as social-distancing with prisoners from other units.
In the new model, prisoners from several units at a time are required to congregate together in the main hallway in front of the medical department where 3 nurses attend pill carts labeled A-G, H-O and P-Z. Prisoners from various units are released for meals and all converge on carts, or walk to the chow hall, opting to receive their pills on the way back from feeding. Prisoners must then divine where the line for "their" cart begins/ends and stand amongst up to 75 others waiting for pills. Often, one or more carts will have no prisoners in the line (with the nurse simply standing there looking bored) while lines for other carts are packed.
Because the hallway is relatively narrow, the area is packed. Between the carts, the prisoners waiting for pills or visiting with friends, passing contraband from unit to unit, overtime staff walking through to go to their posts or going home, the inadvertent social contact is excruciating to watch, not counting the back-slapping, hugging, handshaking and even kissing between peers, staff and inmate alike. Even prisoners who have no desire to go to eat are forced into the maelstrom to receive sometimes lifesaving medications or antipsychotics.
The new pill call method also negates any thought put into which housing units should eat together as now prisoners from various units can now simply wait in the pill pass line until the next unit, or the next, are called to eat, then simply leave the line to eat with their buddies. This creates a security risk that is being completely ignored.
There was no valid reason to change the method of distributing medications at the ISCC other than lack of planning. Prisoners remained among those with whom they were housed when receiving meds on the tiers, and were not forced to congregate with other units or even to leave the tier to receive their medications. When prisoners received meds on the tiers, they could maintain space between themselves and others, space that is no longer possible with the new paradigm. Prisoners who are sick and contagious are now forced into crowded lines and spaces, and are spreading their maladies to others, and prisoners who fear the crowds are foregoing their medications.
Despite the known and potential issues, the medical department continues to cause the pill pass problems to continue. It seems that only when units are locked down due to sickness will the flawed system change - change back to passing the meds on the tiers. Unfortunately, the sickness will likely have been spread through the pill pass line.
In the new model, prisoners from several units at a time are required to congregate together in the main hallway in front of the medical department where 3 nurses attend pill carts labeled A-G, H-O and P-Z. Prisoners from various units are released for meals and all converge on carts, or walk to the chow hall, opting to receive their pills on the way back from feeding. Prisoners must then divine where the line for "their" cart begins/ends and stand amongst up to 75 others waiting for pills. Often, one or more carts will have no prisoners in the line (with the nurse simply standing there looking bored) while lines for other carts are packed.
Because the hallway is relatively narrow, the area is packed. Between the carts, the prisoners waiting for pills or visiting with friends, passing contraband from unit to unit, overtime staff walking through to go to their posts or going home, the inadvertent social contact is excruciating to watch, not counting the back-slapping, hugging, handshaking and even kissing between peers, staff and inmate alike. Even prisoners who have no desire to go to eat are forced into the maelstrom to receive sometimes lifesaving medications or antipsychotics.
The new pill call method also negates any thought put into which housing units should eat together as now prisoners from various units can now simply wait in the pill pass line until the next unit, or the next, are called to eat, then simply leave the line to eat with their buddies. This creates a security risk that is being completely ignored.
There was no valid reason to change the method of distributing medications at the ISCC other than lack of planning. Prisoners remained among those with whom they were housed when receiving meds on the tiers, and were not forced to congregate with other units or even to leave the tier to receive their medications. When prisoners received meds on the tiers, they could maintain space between themselves and others, space that is no longer possible with the new paradigm. Prisoners who are sick and contagious are now forced into crowded lines and spaces, and are spreading their maladies to others, and prisoners who fear the crowds are foregoing their medications.
Despite the known and potential issues, the medical department continues to cause the pill pass problems to continue. It seems that only when units are locked down due to sickness will the flawed system change - change back to passing the meds on the tiers. Unfortunately, the sickness will likely have been spread through the pill pass line.