A "Break-A-Way" from the ordinary

On July 25th of 2007, Safety and Justice.org reported the Salem Statesman Journal ran a series of investigative stories about suicide in Oregon's prisons. To encourage the Oregon Department of Corrections to protect its prisoners, the paper also ran an editorial: More changes needed to curb prison suicides.

The S & J also reported that the week before, twenty-one year Nathan Bashaw killed himself at Snake River Correctional Institution. He was the fourth person to commit suicide in Oregon's prisons that year. In the past ten years, twenty-six people have killed themselves in Oregon’s prisons.

About eight years ago, Imperial Fastener Company had creatively fabricated a "Break-A-Way" cubicle curtain system, geared towards the safety of psychiatric patients who had a tendency to harm themselves, or commit suicide. The purpose of this curtain was to prevent the patients from trying to hang themselves. It eliminated the use of pins or hooks that tend to hold the curtains securely in place. The system instead uses "Safety Tabs" that allows the curtain to safely break away from the track under pressure.

The "Break-A-Way" system became a success in the psychiatric hospitals, and about a year later, the same system was introduced to the correctional facilities. Today, several state correctional institutes have implemented the use of Imperial's "Break-A-Way" shower curtains and tracks in their facilities as the system has become a well-known suicide prevention material.

As usual, Imperial Fastener Company's ability to custom make their curtains to suit any situation is applied to each individual facility's requirements regarding security and safety. The "Break-A-Way" shower curtains can be made with or without mesh tops for ventilation, and with or without a clear top or bottom panel for security/accountability of prisoners. The fabric used is anti-bacterial and mildew resistant, flame retardant, and is very durable.

I recommend that all correctional facilities, who have not yet taken to this product, to give it a second look, especially if safety in the prisons is a concern.

Curtains for all

If you or anyone you know has ever been to the hospital, a clinic, or even to the nurses' office in a school, you have seen one. It provides privacy, it is decorative, and is quite useful.

The cubicle curtain, medical curtain, or hospital curtain, whichever name you choose to call it, creates a make-shift individual room for patients in a multiple occupancy setting where walls are not provided. There are several manufacturing companies that makes the cubicle curtains, several mills that provides the different designer patterns for these curtains, and thousands of contacts through which you can obtain these alternative walls.

Ok, so you know they exist, but do you know that they are not limited to just the hospitals, clinics and schools? A cubicle curtain is usually made with a mesh top, this particular fabrication is preferred in medical settings, it allows the sprinkler systems in these facilities to function properly in the case of a fire, however the same cubicle curtain can be made without a mesh top, with this slight modification, the curtain can be used as a room separator in the home, or as a window curtain.

How's this for an idea? For parents with kids that share a room with their siblings, a curtain can provide each child his or her boundary from each other, offering them that separation when they feel it is important to have some privacy. My daughter was interested in changing the look of her room, so I ordered the cubicle track and cubicle curtains, without mesh, from a company called Imperial Fastener Company, they custom made the cubicle curtains to the size I requested, and had them delivered in a short time thereafter, needless to say, she loves her new decor. I loved it because the budget was right and it looks great.

What about the living room vs. the dining room? most apartments or condos have a combo which people sometimes find clashing. A partial room separation with a decorative curtain on a cubicle track can do the trick. With so many mills, the selection of a pattern to match your room decor is boundless.

So tell me, how many of you now think that you can use a cubicle curtain? By the way, a cubicle curtain track, which is also provided by Imperial Fastener Company, is a great substitute for the drapery track. Just so you know...seriously...it costs much less. They also custom make shower curtains. Hmmm....now I have ideas for re-doing my bathrooms.

Well...that's if for now. Let me know your cubicle curtain ideas, or if you need to know anything about where you can get these cubicle curtains, feel free to ask me.