Kathleen Funchion
Question:278. Deputy Kathleen Funchion asked the Minister for Justice the number of prison officers that are fully trained in CPR. [48787/22]
View answerWednesday, 5 October 2022
Questions (278)
Written answers
I am advised by the Director General of the Irish Prison Service that healthcare teams are provided in all prisons and have primary responsibility for the provision of a comprehensive healthcare and emergency medical service. Healthcare teams comprise of prison doctors and prison nurses and are supported in most areas by in reach service providers.
Healthcare services in prisons aims to provide prisoners with an equivalence of care and quality of services available under the General Medical Card scheme in the community. The Irish Prison Service provides primary care services for the assessment, treatment, and support of prisoners. It also facilitates a range of commissioned and collaborative in-reach services, including stakeholders such as HSE Community Services and the National Forensic Mental Health Service.
In the event of a medical emergency, the healthcare team forms a critical component of the first response team and all healthcare personnel are fully trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).
As the Prison Service employs medical personnel in all locations the Prison Service only trains a small number of prison officers in CPR, primarily gym officers and prison officers undertaking driving duties when escorting prisoners to court. Prison officers working in Open Centres are also trained in CPR, as 24 hour healthcare cover is not provided in Shelton Abbey and Loughan House.
I am further advised that there are 137 Prison Officers trained in CPR across the Irish Prison Service as well as 98 Prison Nurses. These figures reflect staff whose qualification in CPR is current.
The impact of COVID on staff training has been significant. However, the Prison Service has developed a training programme to provide refresher CPR certification to those officers whose certification has lapsed as a result of COVID and to provide initial training to officers who have been newly appointed to gym officer, prison escort or Open Centre roles. This programme is ongoing in order to balance training needs against operational commitments.