Page 38 - Security Today, April 2021

The Impact of
Coronavirus
Hospitals have struggled to meet growing demands placed on healthcare facilities
BAy Lisa Terry
sources and fear of the unknown. In the course of the pandemic over the past year, hospitals struggled to meet the new and grow- ing demands placed on facilities for more and better trained se- curity staff.
IMPROVING SECURITY MEASURES
The pandemic compelled hospitals to increase safety and security measures. The role of the security professional has been redefined and prioritized to support more patient care related activities. New safety and security protocols have been established at hospi- tals in order to accurately adhere to CDC guidelines to keep staff and patients safer.
Patient visitation has been eliminated with few exceptions throughout the country. Facemasks or shields and other personal protection equipment (PPE) are required to enter the facility. Once inside the building, physical distancing of six feet or more between each person is enforced. Additionally, hospitals have established screening processes at entry points, which includes questions regarding symptoms as well as fever detection devices.
The security leader is an important member of the Hospi- tal Incident Command (HICS) team. Security leaders are often tasked with the planning of emergency staffing during the devel- opment of an organization’s “All Hazards Emergency Operations Plan” that meet the scope and scale of security needs amid a di- saster.
Security leaders are encouraged to go through industry-spe- cific training, education and self-development. For security lead- ers serving as hospital security professionals, this means staying up-to-date on healthcare security publications, participating as an active member in the International Association for Healthcare Security and Safety (IAHSS), ASIS International, attending for- mal healthcare security seminars or educational programs, par- ticipating in industry research, and so on.
UPDATING GUIDELINES
At the beginning of the pandemic, the IAHSS Guidelines Coun- cil realized that the existing “Communicable Disease Guideline” was insufficient to meet the needs of the current situation. Thus, security professional met and worked to edit the guideline imme- diately. Within weeks, the updated “Highly Infectious Communi- cable Disease Response” document was released by the council to guide hospitals in developing a response to the global pandemic. The updated guideline outlines additional, essential security ser- vices with mitigation strategies to address the planned changes in protocol.
Large hospital systems determined the need to expand the
s coronavirus cases have increased throughout the nation and across the world, healthcare profes- sionals, emergency rooms and intensive care units have all been pushed to the limit in their ability to properly treat patients with the scarcity of re-
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scope of the security professionals to include increased visi- tor and employee screening, PPE, pharmaceutical and medical equipment storage. These security professionals were expected to continue to respond quickly, de-escalate aggressive behavior and maintain a safe environment with COVID-19 positive patients or patients under investigation.
They also required additional security professionals in new locations. In order to meet the increased safety protocols as well as the regulatory requirements, it was imperative that each of the new security professionals be provided with “Just in Time” train- ing and PPE for the healthcare environment during this crisis situation.
It is imperative for all healthcare security professionals to un- derstand and treat these modifications to safety protocols and hos- pital operations as long-term changes because these alterations, in the end, provide safer and more efficient patient care.
PREPARING A PLAN
Hospitals have recently been challenged with the task of preparing a plan for configuring storage, tracking, securing and administer- ing the coronavirus vaccine. As coronavirus cases have dramatically increased in the United States, businesses, companies and organiza- tions have been forced to address the need for a dependable, effective plan for continuing operations amidst a pandemic. In order for busi- nesses to return to normal operations, hospitals need to be prepared with a clear vaccine distribution plan that can account for possible risks that would delay vaccination in any stages.
To support the need for transitions to new vaccine procedures and protocols, a group of approximately 20 security leaders were led from various hospitals and health systems in the United States, as well as members of the ASIS International Healthcare Security Council and Community in developing two documents
HEALTHCARE SECURITY
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