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An integrated hospital is a safer hospital

The integration of a paging and personal alarm system with a CCTV surveillance system in a healthcare facility can lead to a more secure, safer environment for patients, visitors and medical staff. And when other functionalities are integrated such as intrusion alarm, access control, fire alarm and evacuation, and building management, the possibilities – and the benefits – are endless.

Violence in a healthcare facility is not merely ironic; it is tragic. Unfortunately, attacks on medical staff, by patients as well as visitors, are all too common. One in seven of all reported injuries at work in NHS trusts in the UK are physical assaults by patients or visitors. Figures released in November 2005 by the NHS Security Management Service indicate that 14% of healthcare staff surveyed have been attacked by patients or visitors, and 27% have been bullied or harassed. Nurses, ambulance and A&E staff are the most frequent victims, but GPs are not immune. Hospital pharmacies and psychiatric wards are particularly vulnerable hotspots.

The implementation of the latest technology - and in particular the integration of a paging and personal alarm system with CCTV cameras - can help reduce the frequency of such attacks, and mitigate their effects when they occur.

Calling for assistance

For example, take the scenario of a nurse being attacked by a visitor who is perhaps frustrated with the medical staff. The nurse can immediately press the panic button on her pager to activate an alarm and inform the security team.

Even if the attack should take place too quickly for the nurse to push the panic button, and she is unfortunately knocked to the ground, the no-move/tilt alarm in the pager will be automatically activated. This is one of the features in the range of Bosch personal security and paging devices.

In both scenarios the alarm call automatically turns on the nearest CCTV camera to pick up a clear image of the aggressor. In the control room, the operator zooms in for details. Automatic image recording also starts the moment the camera switches on. And while help is being mobilised, the security guards at the hospital exits are paged to look out for and apprehend the aggressor.

Surveillance and evacuation

Another scenario involves evacuation of a hospital or a department for some reason; a fire or a bomb alert for example. In these circumstances it is vital to check that no-one is left in the evacuated areas. Bosch CCTV cameras can be clustered to observe, for example, corridors, visitors' rooms, stairs and recreational areas simultaneously, providing the central control operator automatic or manual selection of cameras in an emergency.

Bosch FlexiDomeXT plug-and-play, vandal-resistant, fixed-dome cameras are ideal in this respect, with NightSense that automatically switches cameras from colour to the high-sensitivity monochrome mode, thus providing round-the-clock surveillance.

Discrete alarming

Especially for healthcare and psychiatric institutions, it is important that fire alarms are set to silent warning to prevent panic. By integrating Bosch pagers into the fire system this silent alarm call is automatically transferred to pagers in a split second. On the display of the pagers, information is shown about the location of the fire. Automatically the right person or a group of persons responsible for taking the appropriate action can be addressed immediately. Such an integrated system can therefore ensure that the message is discretely received by the appropriate persons and that panic is prevented.

No entry for unauthorised personnel

Access control is another functionality to be integrated into a hospital's total security solution. Car parks have been CCTV'ed for years to deter or apprehend criminals, but the integration of these cameras with the paging system can be beneficial from a healthcare point of view. For example, if the camera identifies a handicapped person or a wheelchair user needing help getting out of a car, a paged message to the nearest hospital porter can immediately ensure that the necessary help arrives fast.

Unauthorised entry can be easily tracked with CCTV cameras. If a door opens in an area that is shut down, the camera will begin sending video of that location to the central control room, and a security officer can be paged to investigate.

IP: The new kid on the block

Maternity departments have been plagued for years by unauthorised intruders. The combination of baby tagging and improved security has helped to reduce the number of baby abductions. CCTV cameras also allow a mother to observe her child when the baby is in the Newborn Intensive Care Unit or even in an incubator. With the advent of IP-based systems, it will not be long before parents can observe their hospitalised child from the comfort of their home via a dedicated website.

And tomorrow?

The hospital campus looks set to become even more integrated in the future. Bosch Security Systems recently launched its building integration system (BIS). BIS integrates Bosch's own extensive portfolio of security systems - covering CCTV, access control, intrusion detection, personal security and paging, evacuation, fire alarm etc - as well as products and systems from other manufacturers through industry-standard protocols.

The results include better, centralised control of all functions with faster reaction, simplified maintenance, and higher levels of safety and security.

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