The Theresa May Review: Is It Time For Oxecam?

^{Photograph: Jonathan Brady/PA}

Theresa May, Home Secretary, has launched a review into deaths in police custody after the Independent Police Complaints Commission revealed that 17 deaths occurred in police custody over the course of the last year, 6 more than in the previous financial year.
May was reported as saying “Sadly, as these figures show, deaths and serious incidents in custody may be rare, but they do happen. And when they do, for the families involved who have lost loved ones, all too often the system doesn’t work the way you would expect.”
It is incidents like these that have the potential to “dramatically” undermine relationships between the public and the police – not to mention the impact these tragic deaths have on the families of the deceased, as well as the police force itself, with huge financial and staff resource costs occurring with each death in detention.
At Oxehealth, we believe that technology can have a huge part to play in future reforms, supporting staff and the police services as a whole with the provision of care for detainees in secure rooms. One such solution could be provided by new innovation in ever advancing medical monitoring technology. Oxehealth's software, Oxecam, turns cameras into health monitors, allowing for automated health monitoring of detainees inside custodial facilities. Removing the need for potentially dangerous wearable devices, such technology could provide a safe and accurate solution in an environment that has until now been restricted to manual checks by staff.
Such solutions could help to avoid many of the circumstances which may lead to these fatal situations, by alerting and allowing emergency services and staff to respond more quickly to the incident. Having successfully demonstrated the ability of the technology to safely detect key vital sign indicators within secure room facilities, Oxehealth is due to undertake further trials and validation of the Oxecam technology in custody and secure room facilities. Our aim is that Oxecam will make health monitoring simpler and safer for staff, reducing the number of deaths in detention and vastly improving the quality of care in custody for public and police alike.