New identification technology for hospitals launched by Athena Security

Athena Security has introduced an automated BOLO (Be On the Lookout)/Person of Interest system engineered to instantly recognize high-risk individuals and deliver real-time alerts to hospital security teams.

“This is exactly the kind of innovation hospitals need in an era where threats can escalate in seconds,” said Lisa Falzone, Co-Founder and President of Athena Security.

“Our BOLO/POI technology eliminates the vulnerabilities of outdated methods and gives security teams a real-time advantage that saves lives and reduces administrative burden.”

Hospital security

Athena Security says that its automated technology replaces outdated paper logs, binders and memory-based identification with real-time driver’s license scanning.

Integrated with the company’s Visitor Management System (VMS), the solution enables healthcare security to automatically flag dangerous or restricted individuals upon entry and immediately notify security teams, access control staff and clinical leadership.

The system performs real-time checks against both internal BOLO lists and relevant external databases, providing proactive visibility without disrupting normal visitor flow.

Key capabilities of the system include:

• Instant identification of dangerous, banned or restricted individuals
• Immediate creation and deployment of new BOLO alerts that are automatically pushed across all hospital locations
• Real-time alerts across the hospital’s security and operations ecosystem
• Automated, consistent documentation of POI events without manual reporting
• Contextual alerts that include officer-entered notes such as prior behavior or safety concerns, enabling more informed response decisions
• Faster response times during escalating threats
• Enhanced visitor management and access control across ED, maternity, behavioral health and restricted clinical areas
• Offline functionality that allows BOLO searches and alerts to continue even if network connectivity is temporarily lost

“Paper lists and manual reporting simply cannot keep pace with modern threats,” stated Chris Ciabarra, Co-Founder and CTO of Athena Security.

“Violent incidents in hospitals are under-reported largely because teams are overwhelmed by documentation requirements.

“Automating identification, alerting and documentation in real time gives hospitals a chance to respond in the way threats actually occur – suddenly and without warning.”