The emergency department (ED) is a major security concern, as it is in nearly all hospitals. PinnacleHealth’s ED is open all day, every day to treat those suffering from trauma and contagious diseases, as well as injured rival gang members who might be threatening to continue their battles in the hospital.
Patients entering the ED are triaged in one of the hospital’s four triage rooms, which are automatically locked, preventing access from the main ED waiting area. Each trauma room includes a monitor providing nurses with a view of the waiting room as well as a panic button to summon security personnel if they notice a developing situation that may cause a threat.
The ED also includes seclusion rooms, where violent and/or mental health patients are kept while awaiting treatment. Magnetic locks protect the doors and require an authorized access card for entry. From the nurses’ station, nurses can use pan-tilt-zoom cameras to view inside each seclusion room. Due to the clarity of the video, they can also zoom in to monitor patient respirations. The video is available in real time, but due to privacy regulations, these cameras are not recorded.
There is also a separate ED entrance for police bringing in injured patients suspected of a crime.
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