Pulaski County Jail introduces new monitoring system
The Pulaski County Jail is among the first in the country to get contact free monitors.
Pulaski County, Ky (WTVQ): The Pulaski County Jail is among the first in the country to get contact free monitors. The new technology, can measure an inmate’s heart and respiratory rate using a sensor mounted on the wall.
Pulaski County jailer Anthony McCollum says this device, helps save lives. He says that you’ll hear a beep that notifies the medical team about any deviation a patient may be experiencing. It takes a reading of an individual person. Then, “our medical staff can set parameters as to if the blood pressure goes above this, blood pressure goes below this. Same with the heart rate,” McCollum said.
According to McCollum, staff do their rounds about every 20 minutes for any patient who is at high risk but a lot can happen in just 20 minutes. “A person’s heart can stop, they can go into cardiac arrest,” he said. Now in between that time staff can be notified right away.
McCollum says they’ve had the system for about a year now. “We’ve been lucky and not really had to use it. We’ve had a few where the alerts have gone off. But it has not been to the point where it’s been a life-threatening situation.”
This monitor system helps ensure that inmates are taken care of in the case if something does happen. Currently the jail has about five monitors, but they house around 400 inmates. McCollum hopes in the future than number can increase. “I would say at least plan for half. 400 would be great to monitor everyone, unfortunately there’s a lot of cost,” he said.
