Hospital Security News

SAI provides professional expertise to assist hospitals in developing an effective security and risk management program.

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VOLUME III NUMBER 1 March, 2006

"Hospital Security News" is SAI’s quarterly newsletter dedicated to helping hospitals identify and manage security risks, recognize organizational strengths and weaknesses in physical protection and improve the personal security of patients, visitors, staff, and employees. This special edition features a reprint of an article recently published in the VerticalMarket section of AS Magazine. It deals with the technological elements of hospital security in the United States and United Kingdom from both the hospital’s perspective and that of the security integrator. This article is soon to appear on line at: www.asmag.com

To receive a free copy of Hospital Security News, please write to: newsletter@saione.com. If you would like to contribute your personal experiences, please write to Pam Carter, RN, BSN, MA, Editor, Pam@saione.com

Vertical Market

_{Struggling to Keep the}

^{Practice Alive}

Even the word "hospital" makes people nervous. Given the high-paced setting with all kinds of people coming and going, providing security while preserving an open-

door policy is a major challenge.

By YAHAN WU

ospitals and churches have always been considered sacred, at least as far back as I can remember," said Jeff Aldridge, president of Security Assessments International (SAI), a U.S.-based consulting firm specializing in hospital security. For the past 18

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years, SAI has helped hospitals identify and control loss and reduce risks through security-assessment programs.

He said a few decades ago, it was unimaginable that anyone would violate the sanctity of a hospital by, for example, kidnapping a baby. Hospitals are institutions of tradition, and historically have resisted becoming well-fortified. Rather, the focus has always been on giving open, friendly access to the public despite such threats.

Violence Primary Market Driver

"I would say the primary driver for security installations in hospitals is increased violence," said Dominic Bruning, EMEA marketing director for Axis Communications. While the main threat, he explained, is against staff, other patients could also be attacked. Hospitals have a responsibility to both.

The following statistics paint a chilling picture of the risks hospital staff and patients face. According to a report by the Guardian in April 2001, violence in hospitals had become so widespread that, on average, 500 violent incidents took place at every National Health Service (NHS) Trust in the U.K. in 2000. In almost all major teaching hospitals, police presence is now routine, especially around hotspots like Accident and Emergency

(A&E) departments.

NHS trusts are also employing their own security guards, hiring private companies to carry out round-the-clock patrols, using surveillance and alarms, and, in some cases, giving staff mobile phones and pagers. Staff accommodation has to be protected from intruders

as well and trusts have introduced tight security in maternity units because of baby snatching. Finally, many hospitals are plagued by

thieves and vandals.

It is the same in the U.S. Phillip Launt, director of business development at SAI, said healthcare security is now among the fastest- growing market segments. "It is safe to say healthcare security is a multibillion-dollar business; growth is projected for the next five

hospitals are still years behind the security curve. Another factor, as mentioned, is that violence in the healthcare setting has increased dramatically; this has focused attention on security's counterpart: liability.