Athena Security has unveiled its new Ambulance Bay Weapons Screening Kiosk to help hospitals reduce undetected weapons threats.
This new screening kiosk is set to safeguard emergency department staff with consistent, documented screening protocols, Athena notes.
According to the American Hospital Association, nearly 70% of emergency nurses report being physically assaulted on the job, often during chaotic patient arrivals.
Hospital emergency rooms face a unique security challenge at the ambulance bay. Traditional screening systems are impractical for patients arriving in distress, on stretchers or in wheelchairs, necessitating manual screenings from a trained professional.
Yet due to the urgency and chaos of trauma, there is a lack of consistent screening and documentation.
Lisa Falzone, Co-Founder and President, Athena Security commented: “The safety of our public and our healthcare heroes is paramount.
“Our partners and clients in healthcare expressed how vulnerable they feel due to the security gaps at most emergency bay entrances.
“We wanted to help mitigate those risks. Our new security feature responds to the urgent need emergency departments have for a solution that is efficient, effective and documented digitally,” Falzone concluded.
Athena states that inconsistent screening leads to a critical security gap in a location where weapons screening is needed to help reduce safety risks to healthcare professionals, patients and visitors – particularly given the number of emergency room patients who have been wounded in violent incidents involving guns and knives.
Studies reveal that firearms are involved in more than 90,000 emergency department visits annually in the United States.
To address the problem of undetected weapons entering through the emergency bay, Athena Security has announced its recently developed Ambulance Bay Weapons Screening feature as a purpose-built solution.
Staff can now use a dedicated, single Apple iPad to document security incidents in real-time and support consistent screening protocols.
The platform records relevant details, captures photographic evidence of collected and confiscated items and the individual involved, providing a digital or physical receipt for the items and contraband.
With this new system, there is immediate accountability at the point of entry; it identifies possible weapons threats and creates a centralized digital record for the screening of each patient and visitor, when used in combination with the Athena Weapon Screening solution at entryways.
Athena states that the new Ambulance Bay Weapons Screening feature integrates with its existing weapons detection security platform, providing a comprehensive view of facility-wide hospital weapons screening.
By transforming a manual, unmonitored process into an accountable, verifiable and auditable workflow, Athena Security highlights that it will continue its commitment to protecting healthcare workers and critical healthcare infrastructure with intelligent technology.