By virtue of their large area and public nature, hospitals present a multitude of security challenges. In recent years hospital managers have had to face-up to growing instances of verbal intimidation and physical assaults on staff - with Accident and Emergency departments a particular flashpoint – the theft of drugs, and the headline grabbing baby snatching from maternity units. As if this is not enough in the UK we are now seeing expensive medical equipment, including ultrasound scanners and endoscopes, being stolen to order by criminal gangs and then shipped overseas to Eastern Europe and Africa.
Faced with these multiple threats many hospitals are reassessing how best to protect their sites. There is growing interest in digital networked CCTV as a technology to replace traditional CCTV systems. The scope to apply networked CCTV is huge, video servers can easily distribute images, across a LAN (Local Area Network) or WAN (Wide Area Network) and can usually be integrated into the existing IT infrastructure – so foregoing the need for extensive new cabling.
Another key reason for going down the networked video route is its flexibility, ensuring that multiple network users have simultaneous access to live and recorded images, whilst vital recording continues uninterrupted. Where there are violent attacks on staff or patients images can be readily stored and retrieved for evidential purposes. In association with access control measures – e.g. magnetic tagging – networked video is even able to help secure key storage areas, protect key equipment (as mentioned this is a growing problem) and vulnerable maternity units.
As the security requirements of hospitals come into ever sharper focus, networked CCTV certainly looks set to become a vital element in the drive to keep one step ahead of the criminals.