Hospital Security System Case Analysis And Key Measures To Ensure Safety

What parts does the hospital security system include?

A complete hospital security system is generally constructed through five major modules: video surveillance, access control, alarm for intrusion, patrol management, and emergency communications. For example, a tertiary hospital has deployed more than 800 high-definition cameras throughout the hospital, specifically covering the emergency hall, pharmacy, neonatology department and financial room. At the same time, emergency buttons are installed at the nurse stations on each floor. In the event of a violent incident, security personnel can arrive at the scene within 3 minutes.

In addition to hardware devices, the system also integrates intelligent analysis software. For example, face recognition is used to identify people with medical history, and behavioral analysis can automatically detect abnormal situations such as falls and fights. A certain hospital once used a behavioral analysis system to warn in advance of an armed intrusion by a patient's family member, and security personnel intervened in time to prevent the conflict from exacerbating. This combination of solutions has greatly improved the hospital’s active defense capabilities.

How to effectively prevent medical disturbances and violent incidents

We must pay close attention to the front end to issue early warnings and respond quickly. This is the key to preventing medical troubles. In an incident that occurred in a hospital in a city in the eastern region, they installed AI voice recognition equipment in the emergency room and at the payment window. Once the system detects sensitive words such as "beating people" and "breaking things", it will automatically notify the security center and enable the audio and video recording function. At the same time, each security personnel is equipped with a walkie-talkie and an anti-riot fork to ensure that the smallest combat unit can be constructed.

Another effective approach is to build a medical-police linkage mechanism. This hospital has a direct connection with the alarm system of the local police station. Once a level three alarm is triggered, the police will dispatch the police within 5 minutes. Moreover, the hospital also regularly organizes violent conflict simulation drills to train medical staff on how to quickly evacuate and press the alarm button. According to statistics, after one year of operation of this system, the probability of violent incidents in the hospital has been reduced by 62%, and the sense of security of medical staff has been significantly improved.

How to make a baby anti-theft system

In hospital security, infant anti-theft is one of the most delicate links. The current mainstream solution is to use RFID anklet technology. Specifically, each newborn wears an active electronic tag with anti-tamper function. Once the tag is cut, or If the signal is lost, the system will immediately sound an alarm. A case in a maternity hospital shows that they set up electronic fences at the entrance and exit of the maternity ward. When the baby is taken out of the designated area, the access control will automatically lock and trigger a sound and light alarm.

There is a more advanced system that incorporates a dual authentication mechanism. When a nurse takes a baby to bathe or do an examination, she has to swipe her work ID card and the baby's ankle bracelet at the same time. The system will record every move. The hospital has also deployed a positioning base station, which can display the location of each baby on an electronic map in real time with an accuracy within 1 meter. In the three years since the system was launched, there has not been a single miscarriage or theft of a baby in the hospital, and parent satisfaction is as high as 99.5%.

What are the requirements for video surveillance layout?

A reasonable video surveillance layout is not to install cameras everywhere, but to design based on risk assessment. In the case of a large general hospital, they divided the monitoring points into three levels. The first-level monitoring area covers the emergency hall, pharmacy, neonatology department and ICU. It is required to achieve full coverage without blind spots and use 4K high-definition cameras. Second-level areas such as general ward corridors and outpatient waiting areas use 1080P cameras and are spaced 15 meters apart. Third-level areas such as office areas only retain necessary points.

At the same time, another key principle is to fully consider privacy protection. At the entrance to the bathroom, the hospital has set up obvious warning signs. Near the dressing room, there are also particularly obvious warning signs. They also avoid cameras aiming directly at the hospital bed. They use video intelligent analysis This technology will automatically turn on the motion detection function at night. Once someone enters the restricted area, the monitoring screen will pop up on the large security screen. After optimizing the layout, the hospital's monitoring system coverage has reached 98%. At the same time, complaints caused by unreasonable layout have been reduced by 80%.

How important is the access control system to the hospital?

The access control system, which has the function of preventing illegal intrusion into the hospital and the loss of materials, is the first line of defense. In the case of a psychiatric hospital, they installed two-factor access control that requires card swiping and fingerprint verification for entry at the ward gate, dispensing room, and medical waste temporary storage room. For patients with suicidal or violent tendencies, the ward door lock is designed in a mode that can be opened with the help of a key from the outside but cannot be locked from the inside, which not only ensures patient safety but also facilitates emergency rescue.

The access control system helps hospitals achieve refined management. For example, in the operating room area of ​​a tertiary hospital, only the card of a doctor from the relevant department can open a specific operating room, and the system will record the time and personnel of each entry and exit. For the drug cabinet in the laboratory, dual verification of fingerprints and iris is used, and the entire process of taking medicine is videotaped. After the implementation of this access control scheme, the number of cases of losing valuable medicines in the hospital has been reduced to zero, and the number of unauthorized entry incidents in the operating room has been reduced by 95%.

How to implement emergency plans

Many hospitals have emergency plans, but only a few are actually available. A hospital’s approach is worth learning from. It digitized all plans and then pushed them to the security personnel’s handheld terminals, and the operation process automatically popped up based on the type of event. For example, in the event of a fire, the system will display the location of the nearest fire hydrants, evacuation routes, and a list of critically ill patients who need to be transferred first. At the same time, a full-process drill is organized every quarter. After the drill, any unreasonable aspects in the plan must be corrected.

Another key point of implementation is to connect various subsystems to each other. The difference is that this hospital has specially set up linkage settings for fire alarms, video surveillance and emergency broadcasts. Once the smoke detector is activated and triggered, the monitoring screen will automatically switch to the place where the alarm occurred. After the security staff confirms the fire situation, the evacuation broadcast can be started with just one click. Moreover, the hospital has equipped each building with emergency supply cabinets. The door of this cabinet can be opened with the help of fingerprints. Smoke masks, flashlights and first aid kits are placed in the cabinets. After two years of continuous improvement and optimization, the hospital's average emergency response time has been reduced from the original 8 minutes to 2 and a half minutes, and it won the Outstanding Case Award in the provincial medical safety evaluation process.

After reading this article, what safety hazards have you encountered while working in the hospital or when receiving medical treatment? What do you think needs to be improved most in hospital security? Feel free to share your experiences and opinions in the comment area, and don’t forget to like and forward it so that more people can pay attention to hospital safety.