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The safety and security requirements inhealthcare are unique. Hospitals aredynamic, stressful environments, where

there is a high volume of people circulating,staff trying to do their jobs and expensiveequipment that needs to be in the right place atthe right time.

In common with any other public space, youwill find CCTV cameras, fire alarms and voicealarms as well as access control systems. Whatdiffers is that the design and location of securityand safety measures have to be carefully tailoredto the needs of the hospital.

Jean-Paul Frenett, Marketing Executive atAccess Control Technology (ACT) comments,“Access control has become absolutely essentialin most healthcare environments, to both protectprecious assets and to ensure only qualified orsuitable staff enter certain areas. Modern accesscontrol software will also provide you with a fulllog of events on your system, so you can reviewwho has accessed various areas and when. Thiscan be linked to your CCTV system, so if youwanted to review the CCTV at a certain doorduring an event, such as someone forcing open adoor, the information is at your fingertips. Forthe security team in any secure facility, theability for the access control system to give livealerts and updates is essential, allowing staff toreact to any incident as quickly as possible.”

Indeed, Johan Åkesson Business DevelopmentManager at Axis, says that there is a growingtrend to link all security cameras to IP networksto allow for remote access. He explains,“Conversion is happening all over the world. Inprojects where there are already many analoguecameras installed, we provide convertorencoders that allow the cameras to be linked tothe IP network. Although you cannot expect animproved resolution on the image captured bythese analogue cameras, at least you can accessthem and adding cameras to the IP network issimple and cost effective.”

Video encoders, such as the Axis M7014 andthe P7214 - four-channel video encoders and theP7216, which offers 16-channels, can simplifymigration to network video without upgradingexisting camera systems. These productsprovide edge storage through microSDHCmemory cards slots and support all types ofanalogue cameras including PTZ (pan/tilt/zoom)and PTZ domes.

Digitisation is the way forward. IP camerasand networks allow for video analytics and thiscan be used in the healthcare sector to findpatterns, visitors’ flows and improve the wholeenvironment. Also, the use of digital videorecorders (DVR), cloud storage and IP HDcameras, is on the up in the healthcare sector.

Pauline Norstrom, COO at Dedicated Microssays, “We see our NVR Media Server andSmartVu HD cameras being used in this sector.These are suited to healthcare because theyhave the ability to show high definition imagesfor identification of people.”

Dedicated Micros servers and cameras, aswell as all its NetVu Connected products, canintegrate video servers, cameras and domes,management systems, mobile viewing devicesand video walls together without the costlyimpact of significant integration time.

Pauline adds, “A shared user interface helpsminimise operator training whilst powerfulfeatures such as direct configuration of PTZcameras and domes from connected DVRshelps reduce installation time providingbenefits to both end user and installer-integrator. For larger projects we offer a CloudNVR architecture for a ‘fail-safe,’ secure IPvideo solution.” On the prevention of fire,Dedicated Micros has itsFireVu for video smokedetection.

Clym Brown, MarketingDirector at Texecom explainsthat the Klaxon fire evacuationsignalling equipment is widelyused in healthcare. Brownexplains, “In public accessareas, effective fire evacuationsystems assume noknowledge or training withregards to fire evacuationmessages, so any messagesneed to be clear andunambiguous. One type ofproduct that we do see beingused in hospitals is our voiceevacuation sounders. Theseproducts complement a fireevacuation tone with pre-programmable voicemessages, clearly notifyingvisitors and staff of the type of

Security and safety measures have to becarefully tailored to the needs of the hospital

Healthcare security

Security when needed the most

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Geny Caloisi looks atsecurity solutions in thehealthcare sector

emergency in order to provide safeevacuation of the building.”

Texecom brand electronic securityequipment is used in hospitals for theprotection of sensitive areas such as ITserver rooms, medical supply areas andpanic alarms for members of staff -security measures play an essential rolein preventing staff assaults.

“Given that hospitals are permanentlyoccupied, most areas do not requirealarm systems but there are oftenrequirements for access control,” saysBrown and adds, “Our security controlsystems have integration capabilitieswith access control providers,noticeably TDSi, which allows personnelto use their ID badges for both accessand setting / un-setting of alarmedareas.”

Who are you?We are unique individuals and, when itcomes to healthcare, matching the rightrecords with the right patient, orallowing in the right personnel to thecorrect area, can be a matter of life and

death. To identify the individual, there are in the

market several automatic identification anddata capture (AIDC) technologies including:barcodes, biometrics, iris recognition, RFID andthe latest vein scanner.

Vein Scanner is a Fujitsu product forbiometric identification using the veins of theperson’s hand. Chetan Vasudev, DirectorSecurity Systems Technology, explains, “Thesensor is non-intrusive. The person only needsto hover the hand over the scanner, so no needto touch it thus avoiding hygiene issues. Thedevice is small enough to be mounted onlaptops and can be used for access to patientidentification, singing in for staff and to stopfraud.”

Having the right people in the right areas willalso help ensuring that equipment is correctlyhandled and doesn’t get lost. ACT’s Frenettsays, “Securing equipment can be controlled intwo stages. Firstly, access to areas with suchequipment should be limited to trained orpermitted staff only using control on entrydoors. For more extreme situations, passive oractive RFID tags can be used to broadcast the

location of an asset.”

Care from the cradle to old ageTwo demographic groups are in greater need ofspecial care: babies and the elderly. The use ofsecurity technology can provide peace of mindand allow caring relatives to be ‘virtually’ there.

In the case of premature babies, cameras arebeing used to keep an eye on the child whenthe parent can’t be physically present. Anexample is the use of the Axis 210 camera atthe Salvator-St. Ursula hospital in Hasselt,Belgium. These cameras provide superiorquality in comparison to webcams and there isno need for using a PC locally, as you wouldwith a webcam.

At the other end of the scale are the elderly.According to research by the InternationalLongevity Centre, in 1950, male life expectancyat 65 was 11 years. In the last sixty years thisfigure has doubled to 22, and by 2050 it willhave risen to 26. People living longer than everbefore, means that new measures have to beput in place to cater for them.

Some seniors might have special needs orrestricted mobility, but they might still want tokeep their independence. This is wheretelehealth and telecare can be appropriatesolutions. IP networks are essential in thesecases allowing not only cameras but also otherhousehold appliances to be integrated into thenetwork.

Kenton Madge, Commercial Director UK &Ireland, Stanley Healthcare says, “In hospitals,we provide solutions for fall monitoring for theelderly. We also provide real time locationsolutions for tracking people and assets.”

According to our experts, the key to ensure asafe and secure healthcare environment,resides in the integration of securitytechnologies, whether it’s access control, AIDCor object tracking. With an expandingpopulation and new needs, this integration hasto go beyond the hospital walls and empowerpeople to live their lives independently forlonger while still feeling secure and cared for.

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Healthcare security

“Given that hospitals are permanently occupied,most areas do not require alarm systems but there

are often requirements for access control”