Evolving Prisons

Execution: the toll on execution workers

Chiara Eisner, an investigative journalist who interviewed 26 execution workers to understand how their work affects them, tells us how she gained access to these workers - despite their identities often being kept secret - how they are selected for these roles, and what she learned about the physical and mental health toll execution work can take on those involved. Kaigan Carrie is a criminologist, exploring what it's really like to be a prison officer. Connect with her below:LinkedIn: ⁠Kaigan Carrie⁠Instagram: ⁠@evolvingprisons

Execution: the truth about lethal injection

Dr Joel Zivot, an anaesthesiologist and intensive care medicine doctor, tells us about one of the biggest misconceptions surrounding lethal injection: that it is a painless form of execution. He shares a pattern he discovered while reviewing hundreds of autopsies of people executed by lethal injection - a pattern that challenges what we thought we knew about how lethal injection affects the body, and what that means for how we understand executions.Kaigan Carrie is a criminologist, exploring what it's really like to be a prison officer. Connect with her below:LinkedIn: Kaigan CarrieInstagram: @evolvingprisons

Under pressure: the trauma expert

This is episode 6 of a special 6-part series exploring the mental toll frontline professionals carry as they do vital work to protect all of us.Sean McCallum is a crisis intervention and trauma consultant, and a watch manager in the UK fire service where he's served for 23 years. In this episode, Sean shares his view on why some experiences are traumatic for some individuals but not others, what might cause flashbacks and rumination, and how sleep - or lack there of - can shape how we process trauma.Sean is not a clinician. His perspective comes from a person-centred metapsychological approach.Connect with Kaigan CarrieWebsite: evolvingprisons.comInstagram: @evolvingprisonsLinkedIn: kaigancarrie

Under pressure: the paramedic

This is episode 5 of a special 6-part series exploring the mental toll frontline professionals carry as they do vital work to protect all of us.Lea Vaughan was a Hazardous Area Response Team paramedic and one of only three medics to treat victims inside the arena during the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017 - the largest casualty she'd ever faced. In this episode, Lea reflects on the night of the attack and the lasting psychological impact. She speaks about the lack of support she received afterwards and the unexpected public backlash she faced, including death threats, as a visible face of the ambulance service. Connect with Kaigan CarrieWebsite: evolvingprisons.comInstagram: @evolvingprisonsLinkedIn: kaigancarrie

Under pressure: the prison officer

This is episode 4 of a special 6-part series exploring the mental toll frontline professionals carry as they do vital work to protect all of us.Craig Wylde became a prison officer in 2006. Just four years later, at the age of 28, he was stabbed by a prisoner and left with life-changing injuries that forced his medical retirement. In this episode, Craig speaks about the attack and the long, painful process of coming to terms with a new reality. He speaks about the mental toll of the trauma and how, at his lowest point, he contemplated taking his own life. Connect with Kaigan CarrieWebsite: evolvingprisons.comInstagram: @evolvingprisonsLinkedIn: kaigancarrie