Ensuring the security of your hospital is always important. However, with so many medical facilities overburdened due to the COVID-19 pandemic, hospital security teams and measures are often stretched to their breaking point. Numerous challenges need to be met and dealt with in a timely fashion before they become outright problems. Here is a guide on how to do it.
Recommended Guidelines
Recommended guidelines for maximizing hospital security don’t just magically appear. They require constant communication and feedback from involved parties and stakeholders to make sure that they are effective and reasonable. To this end, the International Association of Healthcare Security and Safety (IAHSS) collaborated with the Emergency Nurses Association (ENA) and the American Organization of Nursing Leaders (AONL) to create new guidelines and regulations that prioritize hospital safety. The relevant guidelines all had to do with violence and included topics such as “Security in the Emergency Setting,” “Violence in Healthcare,” “Targeted Violence,” “Threat Management,” and lastly, “Management of Weapons.”
Deploying Security Staff
Sometimes, the only thing to do is to call for security. Deploying security staff can be challenging, especially when attempting to defuse or deescalating a situation is called for. Various equipment and systems should be implemented to help protect staff and patients. Some examples include access control technology, video surveillance cameras, and duress alarms. Emergency lockdowns are a key component of hospital security. Lockdown drills and containment procedures should be practiced so that any patients at risk of harm to themselves or others can be given the assistance they need; children who are vulnerable must also be protected.
The Value of Training
One way to guarantee that hospital security is made a priority is to constantly train and retrain all hospital personnel, whether or not they are assigned to the emergency department. Security officers, in particular, need to be given more specialized training so that they don’t always need to rely on the use of force – relevant topics that can be useful include de-escalation, recognition of behavioral and mental health, and telling the difference between clinical aggression and criminal aggression.
Prevention and Response
By taking the proper precautions, all facilities can ensure that hospital security is made the primary focus – after the urgent care and attention towards all patients, whether they are in-patient or outpatient. A violence prevention and response plan is essential, and it should not be overlooked!
Trust the Professionals at ARK Systems
Located in Columbia, Maryland, ARK Systems provides unsurpassed quality and excellence in the security industry, from system design through to installation. We handle all aspects of security with local and remote locations. With over 30 years in the industry, ARK Systems is an experienced security contractor. Trust ARK to handle your most sensitive data storage, surveillance, and security solutions. Contact ARK Systems at 1-800-995-0189 or click here today. Check us out on Facebook and Twitter as well!