It's common for me to talk to clinical staff about how they handle unauthorized access to their wards. Unfortunately, one of the most common phrases I hear is: "we question anyone who looks out of place".
Now granted - you should approach people who look out of place, but clinical staff members need to understand how dangerously inadequate that line of thinking is.
Case in point? - The recent infant abduction in Santa Barbara.
Turns out that the abductor was dressed like a nurse, or nursing student and fit very well into what anyone would expect a normal staff member to look like. The infant's mother even handed the child over to the abductor - thinking there was nothing out of the ordinary.
Leianna Arzate is the suspect in question, and to me - would not raise any eyebrows whatsoever in a pediatric ward, especially if she was dressed like a nurse.
I'm not familiar with how the Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital handles security policy and procedure, but there are a few no-brainer ways to significantly mitigate the threat of infant abductions and help staff members keep tabs on who is where in the wards.
Visible ID badges should be a standard in any clinical environment. They allow anyone to quickly verify someone's name/image/title and other information just by looking at an ID badge displayed over waist level.
Color coded ID holders, scrubs or other items of equipment are a great way to help staff sort out who is who quickly. You can give your pediatric staff one unique style of scrubs (that can't be found "off the shelf") and make it difficult for someone to look just like everyone else. You can also issue ID lanyards of a specific color or style for the same reason. With a little creativity you can come up with a system that's difficult for an outsider to detect but still effective for staff members to use everyday.
It should go without saying - but a strong visitor access control policy should be the cornerstone of any security plan in this environment. If you're controlling entry to the space, categorizing visitors and making them easy to identify - you're setting the groundwork for every other tool that can be added or tweaked to achieve the best fit for your staff.
Just skimming the surface here, but I felt it would be a good thing to share. I'm always writing / working on this kind of topic so feel free to let me know if it's something you'd like to see more of.
Now granted - you should approach people who look out of place, but clinical staff members need to understand how dangerously inadequate that line of thinking is.
Case in point? - The recent infant abduction in Santa Barbara.
Turns out that the abductor was dressed like a nurse, or nursing student and fit very well into what anyone would expect a normal staff member to look like. The infant's mother even handed the child over to the abductor - thinking there was nothing out of the ordinary.
Leianna Arzate is the suspect in question, and to me - would not raise any eyebrows whatsoever in a pediatric ward, especially if she was dressed like a nurse.
I'm not familiar with how the Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital handles security policy and procedure, but there are a few no-brainer ways to significantly mitigate the threat of infant abductions and help staff members keep tabs on who is where in the wards.
Visible ID badges should be a standard in any clinical environment. They allow anyone to quickly verify someone's name/image/title and other information just by looking at an ID badge displayed over waist level.
Color coded ID holders, scrubs or other items of equipment are a great way to help staff sort out who is who quickly. You can give your pediatric staff one unique style of scrubs (that can't be found "off the shelf") and make it difficult for someone to look just like everyone else. You can also issue ID lanyards of a specific color or style for the same reason. With a little creativity you can come up with a system that's difficult for an outsider to detect but still effective for staff members to use everyday.
It should go without saying - but a strong visitor access control policy should be the cornerstone of any security plan in this environment. If you're controlling entry to the space, categorizing visitors and making them easy to identify - you're setting the groundwork for every other tool that can be added or tweaked to achieve the best fit for your staff.
Just skimming the surface here, but I felt it would be a good thing to share. I'm always writing / working on this kind of topic so feel free to let me know if it's something you'd like to see more of.
