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Improving SA hospital security with active tags

Specialised environments attract very specific crimes - shopping malls attract shoplifters and cash transporting services are plagued by cash in transit heists. Hospitals are no exception. Patients are vulnerable to exploitation, especially babies, small children, the frail and elderly. In South Africa's overcrowded and understaffed state health facilities as well as the upmarket private hospitals and clinics, baby theft is not a new occurrence, yet many hospitals have little, if any, security.

Explains Neil Cameron of Johnson Controls, "There is no denying the value of people, especially those nearest and dearest to us, yet mistakes (some lethal) continue to be made in hospitals and clinics where patient identification and access authorisation are not fully managed. What makes it even more difficult for hospital staff is the general requirement in any hospital or care home for the building to be open and freely accessible to both patients and their relatives. This implies that all doors are unlocked during the day allowing unrestricted access to everyone."

In many cases, impostors have managed to kidnap the babies by posing as the infant's mother. Administration and nursing staff on rotating shifts can be easily duped without failsafe identification mechanisms in place. The same danger is posed to elderly patients who, if disoriented, senile or suffering from Alzheimer's, for example, may wander out of the hospital jurisdiction into open areas where they are exposed to other hazards and/or exploitation.

"Where security systems, such as CCTV solutions, are in operation, they provide passive rather than active functionality," Cameron adds. "Integrated with an identification, access and authorisation solution, the benefits can be significant, however. Dual discrimination (DD) technology from Bewator Cotag may be the answer to these challenges."

The Bewator Cotag solution which is now available from Johnson Controls, consists of three parts: an active tag or transponder that is worn around the wrist or ankle of the patient and transmits a signal when in the vicinity of a receiver; 'escort' tags or cards given only to authorised nursing staff or designated 'guardians', such as a parent or family member; and a receiver or inductive loop which is fixed to the doorframes of identified exits.

"If the patient moves, or is moved without the attendance of an escort or guardian, the exit doors will lock as the patient attempts to exit or will set off an alert to the control station or guardian," explains Cameron. "The receiver on the exit door/s can read a tag up to two metres away and in less than 60 milliseconds locks the door to stop the patient from opening it. The long-range hands-free reading technology is also invaluable where staff members need to push the equipment, carry chemicals, or assist patients." In more technical terms, the baby/patient wears a dual discrimination (DD) tag and the mother/authorised person an auto discrimination (AD) tag. The receiver will always read the AD tag first and then check if it corresponds with the DD tag. The two must match for the alarm not to be triggered. Says Cameron: "This type of solution can be integrated with an access control system and CCTV solutions, further bolstering security. The tags and cards contain a unique identifying code that allows access data to be integrated with other management systems."

The tags may also be re-used and custom-coded for new patients and their guardians. It can, furthermore, be used for tracking vulnerable portable equipment. Using unique matching personnel cards and asset tags, equipment can be tracked between buildings. Authorised personnel can move items around or off site but an alarm is triggered if an unauthorised person attempts to remove the asset.

Bewator Cotag's dual discrimination solution is a proven technology that has been installed at hospitals and frail care centres internationally for more than a decade. "Given the resource challenges of the South African healthcare environment, it is a solution that promises not only to give patients and their loved ones greater peace of mind, but give nursing staff greater control and increase efficiencies," Cameron concludes.

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