Assiniboine RHA testing portable alarm button system

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This article was published 29/10/2011 (5360 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A portable alarm button system intended to protect staff from violent patients is now being tested at the Hamiota hospital — one of a number of security measures taken by the Assiniboine RHA following an attack on a nurse earlier this year.

The Assiniboine RHA plans to install some type of button alarm system at all its hospitals and personal care homes. Testing at Hamiota will determine whether it will install that particular “duress system” or some other portable panic button system.

“We have installed a duress system now in Hamiota and all the staff have been trained on it,” said Assiniboine RHA chief quality and safety officer Michelle Clark, adding: “I don’t think it’s a matter of will we install it or won’t we install it throughout the region — it’s a matter of what type of system will we install.”

On March 15, a patient at the Hamiota District Health Centre cornered a pair of nurses in the dispensary. The man stabbed one of the nurses with a pen — reportedly in her face — hit her with a piece of wood and tried to choke her.

When another employee arrived and called 911, the patient fled, stole a car and was Tasered and arrested following a police chase.

A psychiatrist later determined that the man’s behaviour was due to an epileptic seizure that left him in a state of psychosis, and the patient claimed he had no memory of what happened.

In July, a Brandon judge ruled that the man wasn’t criminally responsible due to a mental disorder and referred his case to the Criminal Code Review Board for disposition.

Following a hearing in Winnipeg, the board chose to detain the man in a mental health facility.

His case will be reviewed annually when it will be determined whether he can be released or detained further.

Clark said the new alarm system was installed for testing at the Hamiota hospital within the last month.

Hospital staff will wear a wristband equipped with a button, similar to the way they would wear a watch. When the button is pushed, it sounds an alarm and triggers lights placed throughout the Hamiota hospital and personal care home, and that alerts staff to dial 911. The alarm can also be triggered by buttons fixed to locations throughout the facility.

Fifteen wristbands are available so the priority is to equip nurses who deal with patients in the personal care home and in acute care. Other staff may receive wristbands based on other factors such as whether they work alone, work with certain patients or don’t have ready access to a stationary button.

The cost of installing the system in Hamiota is estimated at $20,000 to $30,000. The Assiniboine RHA is paying the bill, but Clark said there’s a possibility the province may compensate the RHA as new provincial regulations aimed at protecting workers from violence took effect on Aug. 31.

Testing is expected to last three to six months.

Clark said the RHA will also review its policies on violence and harassment to reduce risk. Part of that review will examine how to better identify potentially violent patients and notify staff.

Other safety measures have also been taken, Clark said. Safe rooms where staff can lock themselves in and call for help will be, or have been, set up at all facilities. Efforts are being made to clear up clutter that could potentially be used as a weapon and to keep more exits locked.

Stationing security guards at RHA sites hasn’t been ruled out, but doesn’t appear to be a good use of funds, Clark said, given the small amount of time they would spend dealing with problems. However, the RHA has secured the services of a security company that can be called to keep watch on patients who are a potential problem. RCMP would watch the patient until security guards arrive.

All hospital and long-term care sites are now equipped with two-way radios, she said.

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