Suicide watch

Suicide watch is an intensive monitoring process used to ensure that an individual cannot attempt suicide. Usually the term is used in reference to inmates or patients in a prison, hospital, psychiatric hospital, or military bases. Individuals are placed on suicide watch when it is believed that they exhibit warning signs indicating that they may be at risk of committing bodily harm or fatal self injury.

Various forms of suicide watch exist. These generally involve the subject being under continuous or very frequent watch of a guard, such as a prison officer, security officer or orderly, who will intervene if the subject attempts to harm themselves.

Periodic suicide watch, also known as suicide observation or suicide watch, involves the subject being monitored through frequent periodic checks.

Intense suicide watch or observation involves the subject being observed continually by a person who may be employed in one of several possible capacities, sitting or standing in direct sight or arm's reach of the subject. A lot of the times, known as a 1 to 1.

People under suicide watch are put into an environment where it would be difficult for them to hurt themselves. In many cases, any dangerous items will be removed from the area, such as sharp objects and some furniture, or they may be placed in a special padded cell, which has nothing outcropping from the walls (e.g., a clothes hook or door closing bracket) to provide a place for a ligature to be attached, and with only a drain-grill on the floor. They may be stripped of anything with which they might hurt themselves or use as noose, including shoelaces, belts, neckties,bras,shoes, socks, suspenders and bed sheets. In extreme cases the inmate may be undressed entirely.

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Wikipedia