By Elaine Chen
Keeping hospitals secure isn’t easy: They’re large, multi-use facilities which are often open to the public 24/7. However, many areas (such as intensive care units or pediatric wards) must also restrict access due to risks of infection or crime. Yet medical personnel must also have immediate access to facilities at all times.
Hospitals are a challenging environment for access control. They require a great deal of product development and tailored solutions.
Besides patients, visitors, staff and material flows, the transportation of drugs and medicines also needs to be strictly controlled. Regulations and insurance companies’ standard requirements impose further restrictions.
In a hospital environment minutes, if not seconds, save lives.
Fortunately, many tools exist to help hospitals stay safe yet accessible, so they can focus on helping patients get well.
Take control of access
For restricted-access facilities, automated doors can be combined with access control – an intelligent system that allows personnel to enter select areas based on job function. Coded and keycard locks are common alternatives; however, for areas like intensive care wards where response time is crucial or a sterile field must be maintained, one option is also a proximity system that reads ID badges without any user action.
Regardless of which solution is chosen, “access should be given with minimal intervention from the user,” says Anthony Helps, European Health Care Segment Manager for Besam.
“Making systems easy to use, reliable and with the correct emergency procedures is of paramount importance,” he adds. That means directions on door use should be clearly posted and, with the exception of secured areas such as psychiatric wards, it should always be easy for anyone to exit.
A CCTV system that records and stores surveillance footage is also crucial, allowing security personnel to quickly investigate any incidents. Stored footage can also help healthcare personnel improve care or better understand events related to malpractice suits. Given the extensive number of cameras required by most hospitals, a centralized, networked system is the most efficient approach for ongoing usage and monitoring.
Begin with the basics
A comprehensive security plan includes many steps, ranging from having adequate lighting in parking facilities and prominent security guards in high-risk spots like emergency room waiting areas can help deter crime to limiting the number of entrances to the facility.
Automated doors are convenient for patients in wheelchairs or paramedics pushing gurneys, and also eliminate the need to touch door handles, and therefore one way of spreading infections.
Special precautions
Some hospital departments need to be particularly careful about security – for example, maternity wards. While newborn kidnapping is comparatively rare, a strong security solution is important to reassure parents, and can also eliminate any risk of accidentally switching babies (also rare).
A card or proximity access control system can be used for staff only access and a telephone entry system can be used to allow guests to visit. For babies, barcode wrist bands or a reverse proximity system can be used to further deter kidnapping.
“When they approach the door carried by a person without his own proximity card, the door secures and perhaps even an alarm can be heard,” says Helps.
The big picture
Given the wide range of different needs and different possible solutions, it’s important for hospitals to take a holistic approach to security just as they do with health. Unfortunately, this big-picture thinking is somewhat rare.
“[Access control] systems have a tendency to be unique for each and every entrance,” Helps observes. “Different suppliers and equipment are used each time.”
This piecemeal approach is not surprising given the age and size of many hospital facilities – not to mention budget constraints. However, using many different solutions comes at its own cost, including higher maintenance, less efficient monitoring and possible complications during emergencies. Creating one-stop solutions could help hospitals get on the right path.