Turf Battles Again

Here we go again. More battles with the medical staff. What a bunch of crap.

And we lost this one even as it began.

Medical has demanded that medication pass be completed at the time they have decreed so that their nurses won't be forced to work late and thus accrue overtime. And they don't care if it holds up whatever we are doing or not.

And the bigwigs caved and agreed.

So, no matter what, we will get med pass done on time. If we have ten inmates waiting to get locked up, they get sat on the restraint benches until med pass is done. If all the dinner trays are ready to be passed out and sitting on the carts getting cold, they will sit there until med pass gets done. And if one or two of us are having trouble with a recalcitrant offender or even having a use of force, we will get no assistance until med pass is done.

And if it is not begun on time or completed on time, the we will have to explain to the shift commander why we are so incompetent. That's pretty much how it was explained to me.

Yesterday was a major cluster. Started out not too bad when Chuck and I got there but quickly degenerated into a madhouse. And, of course, day shift left on time. Some people don't get the difference between "being done" and "time to leave". Vinnie did a good post about the very subject.

Sarge was out reading violations for some bigwig or another and I was left manning the desk and trying to make our numbers come out right. And the goddam phones. Everyone else had hit the ground running and were busy putting offenders in their cells, including two mentally challenged fighters who had to be kept separated. In the meantime I get two phone calls, about ten minutes apart, from a Lieutenant who proceeds to chew my butt about med pass not getting started on time.

Let's see..... at least two mutually exclusive things going on here. Maybe more.

We have four officers on the floor on our shift.
It takes two officers to do med pass.
It takes two officers to do a lockup.
One officer is supposed to be in the wing with the food service workers.
It's supposed to take two officers to count.
The office is never supposed to be unmanned at any time.

That's eight. So far.

And we aren't supposed to use the restraint benches for "casual" reasons, like being too busy to put them in their cells. They took them away from us the first time for doing just that. So I imagine we are going to be losing our benches again real soon.

It will be all our fault. For doing what we are told to.

So we are to get med pass done at a certain time no matter what. Or it will be our butts in a sling if we don't.

We'll do it the way we are told. We have no choice. It has been decreed from on high. So when the inmates all complain when their food is cold and when their mail is late, we'll just point a finger and say nothing. And when they call for count and we don't have any numbers for them, we'll just point a finger and say nothing.

And when somebody gets hurt, we'll point the same finger.

But we'll have something to say then.

Count on that.