Keyscan security access control readers secure Williamson Medical Center in Tennessee

The Keyscan readers create an alarm that sounds if the cabinet door is held open for more than 90 seconds

There is no glory for the well prepared. Heroes tend to emerge in the triumph over crisis. But what about those people that have the foresight to prevent calamity? Where is the praise for those people that carry out their due diligence and are constantly ensuring the safety of others? Being responsible for the security of others is never an easy task, with threats emerging from any number of sources, security personnel are consistently being challenged in new ways, and conversely, looking for solutions to a growing number of dangers.

For Williamson Medical Center, providing a safe, worry-free environment for both their patients and employees is a top priority. Since 2005, the hospital's security plan has included a Keyscan Access Control system that has played a major role in ensuring the safety of all of Williamson's stakeholders. For Mr. Al Segal, Director of Security for Williamson Medical Center, the Keyscan system has been an incredibly reliable tool for their facility. "Our Keyscan system has saved us time, it makes for a much safer environment, and our personnel feel much safer than they did before" says Mr. Segal. With over 120 doors secured over three separate buildings, it is hard to go far without seeing a Keyscan reader.

Due to the high level of security required in various parts of the hospital the Keyscan system is being used in several unique ways. This is particularly true of the labour and delivery ward. The safety of the hospital’s tiniest patients is of the utmost importance to the hospital. “We have our infants and their mothers on a floor equipped with instantaneous lockdown if a baby is taken toward any exit or elevator” says Mr. Segal "If an infant alarm sounds, the entire floor goes into an automatic system initiated lockdown, and only emergency responders can access the readers for in/out access to carry out their crisis protocol." This feature was developed with help from Keyscan’s engineering team, to create seamless integration between the hospital’s infant security system and the Keyscan system, creating the ultimate form of peace of mind for the staff and new parents of Williamson Medical Center.

The pharmacy is another sensitive area of the hospital that required an additional level of security. While drug-dispensing machines are already equipped with biometric security features, you can never be too safe with pharmaceuticals. “All our machines are behind Keyscan secured doors” says Mr. Mike Grupe, Security Administration for Williamson Medical Center. “The entire pharmacy is set up as a separate site in the Keyscan software. Only the pharmacy director and one security officer has access to make changes to that site.” By separating the pharmacy from the rest of the hospital, they are able to monitor it individually as much as they wish.

The pharmacy staffs are still able to move around the hospital using one card and there is no risk of someone changing access levels in the software.

While drugs are to be closely monitored and guarded, in an emergency time is of the essence. For that very reason, Mr. Grupe and Mr. Segal have been able to adapt the Keyscan system to solve this unique challenge. “In labour and delivery sometimes situations arise where the doctors need medications right away. For that floor we have cabinets that hold a small amount of drugs that would commonly be used in those types of emergencies. The doctors can easily access these drugs without having to send someone to the pharmacy. By putting Keyscan readers on these cabinet doors, we can limit access to the cabinet, with a full audit trail of who opened the cabinets at what time. The audit trail is very important to us,” says Mr. Segal. The readers also create an alarm that sounds if the cabinet door is held open for more than 90 seconds, ensuring the security of its contents. What standard key can do that?

With these different applications being used in the one hospital the potential for confusion was an initial concern for Williamson. Fortunately, “the Keyscan software is very easy for our people to use, no matter what their technical background is” says Mr. Segal. “Not only is the software great, but the fact that even as an end-user I can contact the manufacturer for technical support and not always have to go through my dealer for little questions is a big plus for the Keyscan system.”