35 research outputs found
Prison officers' attitudes towards self-harm in prisoners
Prison officers are the agents that have the most contact with prisoners during imprisonment and are essential for control prisoners at risk. Because of that, it is essential to understand their attitudes towards prisoners who self-harm because their attitudes predispose the behavior in situations of self-harm. Thus, our study aimed to explore the attitudes of prison officers regarding prisoners who self-harm. The results revealed that prison officers did not advocate harsh treatment for self-harming prisoners. However, they tend to reveal some difficulties in understanding the causes of self-harm, reproducing the negative myths referred to in the literature. They also tend to neglect the fact that these behaviors may, in some cases, culminate in suicide. These results highlight the need for specific training about this phenomenon, not only in prison officers initial training but also in continuing training, identifying issues of particular importance to address, such as interpersonal skills and behavioral strategies to deal with incarcerated individuals who self-harm. We also advocate for the importance of reinforcing prison officers' role as first-line responders, empowering these agents in their social responsibility towards prisoners well being and the way penal justice is implemented.This work was supported by the Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education through national funds and cofinanced by FEDER and COMPETE2020 under the PT2020 Partnership
Agreement (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007653) - Psychology Research Centre (UID/PSI/01662), awarded to Ana Rita Cruz. The study was also supported by Grant SFRH/BPD/108602/2015 from the Portuguese
Foundation for Science and Technology awarded to Andreia de Castro Rodrigues
Current aspects of penal surgical liability in Greece
The surgeon may face in every day practice issues that may render him liable. The legal liability usually emerges due to the negligence exhibited during the preoperative, the operative and the postoperative stage. The surgeon, as any doctor, isn't liable for the result, but he is responsible for the correct diagnosis and therapeutic treatment, always according to the principles of the Medical science and to the possibilities available to him in every specific case (facilities and time). The continuous education about the issues of his speciality, the adaptation of scientifically approved techniques, the correct monitoring of the patient, both preoperatively and postoperatively, and finally the good communication with the patient are necessary for the proper practice of Medicine; but also constitute the "shield" of the surgeon against any possible legal conflict. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd and Faculty of Forensic and Legal Medicine. All rights reserved
Medical confidentiality: Legal and ethical aspects in Greece
Respect for confidentiality is firmly established in codes of ethics and law. Medical care and the patients' trust depend on the ability of the doctors to maintain confidentiality. Without a guarantee of confidentiality, many patients would want to avoid seeking medical assistance The principle of confidentiality, however, is not absolute and may be overridden by public interests. On some occasions (birth, death, infectious disease) there is a legal obligation on the part of the doctor to disclose but only to the appropriate authorities. Permissible disclosure can be granted by the patients' consent, for example, for the purpose of insurance they may wish to take out. Moreover, there are some ambivalent situations (such as criminal acts, or notification of sexual partner in case of a patient with AIDS) for which Greek law does not include relevant provisions, and the Codes of Medical Ethics do not offer clear guidelines. Therefore, the Greek doctor is called to estimate the situation and assume full responsibility for his decision. Finally, new considerations have arisen in the context of the recent advances in the field of telemedicine and electronic archiving. The paper discusses the current situation and legislation in Greece. © 2008 The Authors
Health care provision in prisons: A review on European and international guidelines
Health care provision in prisons is an area of increasing international concern. The spectrum of health problems which prisoners may bring to prison is wide and in many cases prevalence is greater than in the general population. The profound knowledge of delicate issues such as medical confidentiality and informed consent of the patient, with special refer to infectious disease, hunger strike and prison research is necessary in the prison working environment. In the following paragraphs the European and International conventions and guidelines on the matter are discussed
Death by Ram Attack: A Case Report from Greece and a Brief Review of the Literature
A case of a ram attack that caused injuries to a 73-year-old man is presented. The deceased survived the attack and had the opportunity to speak with a friend over the phone before being transferred to the hospital. After a 21-day hospitalization, the patient passed away. A postmortem examination was performed to ascertain the cause of death. The autopsy findings are presented along with a brief review of the literature. Attacks by agricultural animals (or livestock) around the world are reported in the scientific literature. Fatalities from ram attacks are extremely rare. The need to implement specific codes in the ICD system, relevant to each animal attack, appears to be of great importance, in order to allow tracking of animal-related deaths. © 2019 American Academy of Forensic Science
Ballistic Simulation of a Head Wound Inflicted by a Homemade Gun Used in a Suicide Case
Homemade guns may inflict serious injuries mainly depending on the
shooting distance. A case of a male victim discovered dead with a head
wound thought to be inflicted by a homemade gun firing modified
ammunition is presented. Upon completion of the postmortem examination,
the question of whether the homemade gun recovered on site was able to
inflict such a wound arose. An experimental approach was employed to
evaluate the ballistic characteristics and wounding pattern of the
homemade gun and then compare it with the actual case. Ballistic gelatin
with an incorporated bone simulant was used to model and approximate the
behavior of the projectile when striking and penetrating the victim's
head. The retention of the bullets' path in gelatin was verified through
experimental shootings using the same homemade gun and similar type of
projectiles. Analysis of the experimental shootings allowed for improved
observation and documentation of the wounding pattern, thus confirming
the initial hypothesis that the recovered homemade gun did in fact
inflict the wound observed during the autopsy of the victim
Unusual Elevator-Related Deaths: A Report of Two Cases
We present two cases of elevator-related deaths that occurred in two different elevators, and deaths were caused by a similar, but unusual, mechanism. An elevator is a platform or compartment housed in a shaft for raising and lowering people or things to different levels. Elevator-related deaths and injuries are rarely reported in the literature. In most of these cases, cause of death was attributed to falls. It seems that most of the elevator accidents may be attributed to factors related to device maintenance inadequacies or even to device malfunctioning. In our cases, both elevator cars were not equipped with full-length inner doors, thus allowing both accidents to occur. Since 2014, the European Union adopted a relative directive, which imposes the need to equip all elevators with such full-length doors. The enforcement of the above-mentioned EU Directive is crucial, in order to prevent similar accidents in the future. © 2019 American Academy of Forensic Science
Atypical kawasaki disease presenting with symptoms from the genitourinary system: An autopsy report
Symptoms from the genitourinary system are unusual in Kawasaki disease (KD). Renal involvement is even rarer and it is confirmed by biopsy when the person is alive. We describe the case of an 11-year-old boy admitted to the hospital complaining about prolonged fever (5 days) and hematuria. His urinalysis showed also pyuria, proteinuria and urinary renal tubular epithelial cells concentrations. During the next days, the patient presented limb edema. After almost 2 weeks of hospitalization the patient was transferred to the intensive care unit because of melena and intense abdominal pain. Upon admission, the patient collapsed and died. The diagnosis of KD was established during autopsy. The macroscopical and histopathological examination of the heart showed increased dimensions and weight and multiple thrombi in the coronary arteries with intramural dense polymorphonuclear inflammatory infiltration and necrosis. Histological examination of the kidneys revealed normal glomerulus, mild expansion of mesangial matrix, interstitial infiltration with lymphocytes, plasmatocytes and eosinophiles, normal vessels and normal immunofluorescence. © The Author [2008]. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved
Impact of Covid-19 lockdown on characteristics of autopsy cases in Greece. Comparison between 2019 and 2020
In order to reduce transmission of COVID-19, social distancing measures were proposed, including spatial distancing (2 m distance), or even generalized lockdown. Main concern was to prevent overwhelming of the healthcare systems, mainly of the intensive care units (ICUs) by decreasing the spreading of the disease. In Greece, the Government, after consulting with experts in the fields of infectious disease and epidemiology, implemented a rather aggressive stance with an early lockdown. Aim of our study, is to identify and compare the characteristics of cases referred for autopsy during the first month of the lockdown period for the COVID-19 outbreak, versus the cases referred during the same period in 2019. 231 autopsy cases were included in our study, 125 in 2019 and 106 in 2020. Regarding gender, age and nationality, no significant differences were detected between the two time periods. Age subgroup analysis demonstrated increased number of cases within the age group 70–79 years, in 2020. As to the place of death, the increase in the percentage of out-of-hospital deaths was not confirmed as statistically significant. Regarding type of death (violent, sudden/unexpected), the drop of violent deaths in the 2020 examined period, was not confirmed as statistically significant; however, further subgroup analysis showed a significant drop of fatal injuries resulting from road traffic accidents in the 2020 period. The slight increase of sudden/unexpected deaths, especially myocardial infarction cases, did not reach statistical significance. One month after lockdown, we cannot detect significant differences in the two time periods examined. Further study should be conducted soon when more data will become available. Frequency of fatal myocardial infarction seems to remain unaffected by the COVID-19 pandemic while deaths resulting from road traffic accidents exhibit a significant decrease. Homicides and suicides remain at low levels, in our jurisdiction area, seemingly unaffected by the COVID-19 outbreak and the subsequent lockdown. It appears that since sudden/unexpected deaths, statistically remain unaffected, the preventive measures taken by the Greek authorities prevented overwhelming of the healthcare system, which could function properly. © 2020 Elsevier B.V