Healthcare facilities see many patients and visitors enter their doors daily for various emergency and non-emergency incidents. When an emergency occurs within any healthcare facility, it’s critical to communicate the situation calmly but urgently with employees, visitors, and patients. Any delay in distributing emergency messages can result in loss of life or other damages. 

Most healthcare facilities have mass notification systems (MNS) in place but may be limited to traditional PA systems. This blog will explore common challenges healthcare facilities face and solutions for enhancing mass notification and emergency response.

Challenge: Hazardous Spill

A hazardous spill occurs in a wing of a large hospital system. Staff and visitors need to be notified and provided with evacuation instructions, as well as an “all-clear” message once the spill is cleaned up and the area is safe for people to return to.

Solution 

Healthcare organizations cover large footprints, but dangers like a hazardous spill might not affect other facilities on the hospital campus. With an MNS, alerts can be tailored to notify all or select hospital personnel using Alertus’ Fire Alarm Control Panel (FACP) Interface. With the FACP, staff can activate and distribute emergency alerts to connected Alertus solutions like desktop computers across the organization or select VoIP phones.

Challenge: Disorderly Visitors & Patients

A hospital registration area attends to numerous visitors daily. Unruly visitors and patients are disrupting others, and staff must mitigate the situation.

Solution

Hospitals can expand their MNS by adding hardwired, USB, wireless, and software panic buttons to their capabilities. For example, hospitals with Alertus Desktop™ Notification deployed across their organization can add USB Multi Panic Buttons to workstations, allowing staff to activate their alert system and call for help discreetly.

Resources 

The Alertus System delivers the tools necessary to unify healthcare facilities' existing alerting methods and devices under one powerful platform, streamlining crisis communications and response procedures.

Check out more Alertus solutions for healthcare facilities and the organizations we serve.

The VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare System provides healthcare services at 21 locations across central Tennessee and southern Kentucky. See how the VA Tennessee Valley uses the Alertus System across its campus.