BEL AIR, Md. — Inmates at the Harford County Detention Center wearing what look like oversized wrist bands aren’t making a fashion statement.
They’re allowing corrections officers to monitor their heart rates, oxygen and temperature 24/7 in the event they suffer a health crisis.
WATCH: Coming to the rescue behind bars: High-tech health alerts at Harford County Detention Center
“We’re talking about 15 of us working the whole, entire facility, talking about 380 inmates,” said IPC Watch Commander Lt. Christopher Rosette, “IV drug users, people of ill health---they come in and I’m like, ‘Hey, this something you might want to participate in to help us help you.”
The high-tech wristbands have been in use here at the detention center for less than five months, but they’re already paying off.
In one instance, an inmate’s alert went off signaling a drastic drop in his saturated oxygen level.
“Deputies immediately responded in locating the inmate unresponsive in his cell,” said Warden Daniel Galbraith, “The alert from the wristband allowed staff to initiate medical intervention within seconds.”
In another case, a detainee’s alert uncovered a previously undiagnosed cardiac issue, and a similar incident happened this week when, if not for a cellmate, the patient may not have survived.
“A 70-year-old male suffered a cardiac event. He had declined the wristband when he came in,” said Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler, “and again, it’s a voluntary thing. We can’t force them, but I’ll be interested when he comes back whether he has changed his perspective on that.”
For now, the detention center has 30 of the wristbands that are made available to incarcerated individuals when they’re most vulnerable during their first few days of incarceration.
“God forbid something happens to you, then we sit here looking lost. It’s like, ‘No. No. No,’” said Rosette, “We want to help people. We’re not just here for incarceration. We’re here to help people as well.”
The program, complete with monitoring and data storage, costs a hundred thousand dollars per year.
