Technology Helps with Active Shooter Prevention and Response
Technological options may help reduce the risk from active shooters. Technology is available to monitor people and predict dangerous behavior, and it can help during the incident response.
Technology can be especially helpful in healthcare because most hospitals include multiple entry points that are accessible to the public at all hours, says Sharon Hong, vice president of enterprise technology at Motorola Solutions.
“Hundreds to thousands of visitors and staff may pass through facilities daily,” Hong says. “Security personnel are tasked with monitoring buildings and their surroundings, including public spaces, secure areas, and critical equipment, while also responding to incidents or requests for assistance in real time.”
Technology, including security cameras with analytics, access control systems, and radio communication systems and devices, can work together to help hospitals respond faster and more efficiently to many threats, including active shooter scenarios, Hong says.
Hong offers these examples of technology available from various sources:
- Security cameras embedded with analytics can provide security with greater visibility and help detect unusual activity across facilities in sensitive or common areas and parking lots. These alerts can be sent directly to security personnel radio devices. In the case of a known assailant, hospital security personnel can import a person’s license plate, name, and picture into the security database and issue a “be on the lookout” alert. If the person’s vehicle enters the hospital’s parking lot, license plate recognition software can identify it and automatically send an alert to security radios to assess the situation and dispatch security to the right location with details about the incident.
- Access control systems can manage staff and public access to buildings, allowing only authorized people to enter and prevent unwanted access to sensitive areas within a hospital, including the pharmacy, NICU, mother/baby unit, medical rooms, information technology department, supply rooms with valuable equipment, and hospital administration offices, among other areas. If a door is propped or forced open, the access control system sends security personnel an immediate alert to their radios and provides access to live camera feeds so they can survey the situation before responding.
- Concealed weapons detection systems in the ED or main entrance to the hospital can provide quick and seamless screenings without having to stop and frisk or remove items from a visitor entering the hospital. Using sensors and artificial intelligence, the system is designed to allow up to 1,800 visitors to walk through one of the scanning devices per hour and can detect a wide range of concealed weapons and threats, such as firearms, metallic weapons, and improvised explosive devices. If an item is detected on a visitor, an alert is displayed on a tablet showing the location of the potential threat on the person’s body to security operators, where they can alert the organization’s security staff.
- Radio devices connect team members and dispatch security in case of urgent needs such as managing an unruly patient or family member, locating a missing patient, or responding to attempts of unauthorized access.
SOURCE
- Sharon Hong, Vice President of Enterprise Technology, Motorola Solutions, Chicago. Phone: (847) 576-5000.
Technological options may help reduce the risk from active shooters. Technology is available to monitor people and predict dangerous behavior, and it can help during the incident response.
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