Any establishment or institution, may it be public or private, is subject to any threats. That’s why it is necessary to increase security in each of them because you can’t really tell when such events will happen. Given the nature of work in the hospital, it is mostly busy because people come in and out of there for different purposes. Securing your belongings while having to deal with emergencies and other health concerns either personal or for a family member is hard to do when your mind is all over the place. Being in a vulnerable state, security should be the least of your worries because it will not help with the current situation.
Aside from taking care of health concerns and emergencies, the hospital must also ensure that they are taking the right steps and are prepared for any threats. As you go about this article, we will be discussing helpful ways to improve hospital security. So let’s start!
1. Hire a Quality Security Agency
A quality security agency produces quality services. One of the most important and helpful ways for you to improve hospital security is to start by hiring a security agency that is already known for providing dependable, quality security services. You can be sure that they only provide security guards that can perform their tasks properly and are trained to respond to all kinds of threats.
2. Install Security Cameras
Installing security cameras throughout the hospital is a great way to increase security as it prevents threats, break-ins, violence, and crimes from happening. They are also effective tools to present evidence in case a criminal activity transpires within the premise or bounds of the hospital. Although you also have to keep in mind the privacy of patients, that’s why it is best to install security cameras mostly in public areas, remote areas, and where it is appropriate.
3. Design an Evacuation Floor Plan
An evacuation floor plan is necessary for large structured buildings such as the hospital because there is so much ground to cover. You have to be prepared in advance in order to properly manage a safe evacuation for everyone when a threat or emergency happens. The evacuation floor plan serves as a map that will show all the designated primary and secondary exits in every area that people can use to make it out of the building safe. Aside from that, it should also contain a clear illustration of the assembly area for employees during an emergency. Take note that this assembly area should be outside the hospital.
4. Exercise Emergency Drills
It is always good to practice emergency drills because it helps everyone to be properly informed of what they should do in case of an emergency. So it is best to have emergency drill practices a few times yearly to make sure that no one stays uninformed. Every hospital employee should participate and perform emergency drills and cover every situation, so they will know what to do when a threat, criminal activity, fire, strong earthquake, etc. occurs.
5. Reduce Number of Areas That are Accessible to the Public
With the hospital being large in structure, it would be difficult to monitor every corner all at the same time. Reducing the number of areas that are accessible to the public will help improve hospital security as you get to limit the places that criminals or unwanted people can enter into. The areas that are common to the public should however remain, such as the lobbies, waiting areas, shops, etc. As you increase the number of restricted areas, see to it that security cameras are installed in those areas because you will never know what could happen even in those remote and restricted areas.
6. Screen All Visitors
Most of the time, the screening part upon entry is being neglected, especially when the hospital is extra busy and packed with a lot of people entering. No matter what the case, screening all the visitors would really be helpful if you want to improve hospital security. It has to start somewhere, so security measures must be applied from the very time they step onto the entrance of the hospital. In order to strongly implement proper screening of visitors in the hospital, everyone should be required to check-in at the entrance, so you can easily track if there are any suspicious people.
7. Limit Visitors
Given that hospitals have different visiting hours, it may sound too strict for them to limit the number of visitors. But this is done to help closely monitor every person who comes in and goes out of the hospital, especially the rooms. A limited number of visitors would mean that there will be less commotion inside in case of an emergency. It will also be easy for the security personnel to identify any suspicious people and activities.
8. Install Alarm Systems
Alarm systems are a necessity to every hospital. Installing alarm systems in a hospital is an effective way to improve security because it serves as a tool that helps alert everyone in the building, signaling that an emergency or a threat has happened.
We hope that this article has been informative in listing down helpful ways to improve hospital security.
If you are in need of specialized security, contact us today and we will be glad to offer you the best of our services!