Pandemics are just one of the handful of events you’ll run into during your time with Prison Architect. Like most others, dealing with a pandemic is fairly easy, but it can be less straight forward than the others.
There are a few ways you can deal with an outbreak in your prison, such as quarantining the ill to a single cell block, but here we’re going to focus on the easiest method: making good use of paramedics. Placing a few paramedics in key areas takes far less time than trying to hunt down every sick inmate.
Paramedics, which can be found in the Emergencies tab of the menu, can be strategically placed around your prison to cure your sick inmates as they pass by. While your doctors will also cure sick inmates, paramedics are easier to keep track of and control thanks to their special portion of the UI.
You can left click on an individual paramedic and then right click and send it to where you want it to go, which is going to be where your prisoners are clustered together.
Where to place your paramedics during a pandemic
There are four primary spots I like to place my paramedics:
- Canteens
- Yards
- Showers
- Walkways my prisoners use most frequently
While your inmates are infected, you’re going to have to keep on top of where most of the population is. Don’t worry if you can’t tell which of your inmates are sick — it can be difficult to tell what a sick inmate looks like (their faces are a little green), but luckily your paramedics can find them in a jiffy as long as they’re nearby.
The image below shows a section of one of my prisons, with the areas I tend to place paramedics in during a pandemic marked in red. Notice I place them in the locations listed above, including wide and thin walkways.
You will have to pay attention to your inmates’ movements to keep your paramedics on the move until the pandemic is dealt with. This could take only a few hours in-game, or even a few days. Stick it out and keep those pandemics packed like sardines with your inmates until the infection is snuffed out.
