Challenge:

Alert an intervention team efficiently and rapidly in case of aggressive behaviour against staff.

Solution:

RTLS solution with RFID tags from Stanley Healthcare (Aeroscout)

Result:

Increased staff safety in case of aggressive behaviour.

Patients or family members who get bad news, are under the influence or suffer from a psychiatric disorder, don’t always react in a predictable way. The more than 1,100 employees of AZ Klina, the general hospital in the Northern Antwerp region, are well aware of this. Early 2013 the hospital went looking for a solution to protect its staff against aggressive behaviour. PHI DATA was able to supply that solution.

The hospital was looking for a system that allows staff to quickly and easily  alert an intervention team in the event of aggression. The device had to be comfortable to wear, transmit reliable data to the alarm central and also indicate whether people are in or out of range.

PHI DATA implemented an RTLS (Real Time Location System) solution in which doctors, nurses, paramedics and support staff are equipped with badges that contain tags by Stanley Healthcare (Aeroscout). The T3 tags are compact and have an active RFID chip. PHI DATA was able to implement the RTLS technology in existing Wi-Fi systems which enables a real-time information transmission about the location or condition of people and/or goods.

The implementation at AZ Klina took place in five steps.

The first stage determined which departments needed tags and how many. In a next step the ideal configuration was implemented on the T3 tags and all tags and functionalities were tested. Next, the tags were connected to the alarm server in order to connect the right phones to each type of alarm. Then the team analysed how the reporting regarding calls, battery level and tags in and out of range had to be addressed. Lastly, a user guide was developed for anyone who had to be able to handle the T3 tags.

After this first positive experience, AZ Klina is considering to also trace patients and medical appliances.

“We have been using the system now for over a month and we are very happy so far”, says Jan Herrijgers of  AZ Klina. “During the implementation we already noticed that PHI DATA reacts very quickly in case of issues or questions. They did a good project follow-up and chased open issues themselves. The result is obvious: we now have a very reliable system that tracks autonomously whether tags are in or out of range and receive an excellent support.”