Integrated Wireless (IW) have been working with Uniting Communities at it's Aldersgate facility in order to increase staff protection and work flows. Uniting Communities came to IW with the following requirements:
• To
provide a comprehensive campus-wide duress and cordless phone system
with the ability to raise multiple types of alarms (including
man-down)
• A
handset which will remain consistent across the whole fleet and
offers increased durability and robustness
• The
system should be capable of providing accurate location throughout
the facility
• The
system must have the ability to integrate with the existing nurse
call, fire panel and gate control systems whereby notifications are
immediately broadcast out to appropriate staff members
• The
system must provide a comprehensive audit trail of all communications
for post incident analysis and reporting
• Measures
must be taken to ensure the staff understand and have complete
confidence in the duress system and its capabilities
 |
| Ascom d81 handset |
By
deploying 52 of IW's robust d81 duress handsets alongside the latest
Ascom basestations to improve coverage and voice quality, IW met the
main requirements mentioned above. The Ascom d81 handsets provide
staff with an intuitive, easy-to-use device that provides simple
messaging, calling and duress solutions. Locational duress alarms can
be raised through one of two ways:
- Push-button
duress
- Man-down
alarm (automatic alarm raised when handset tilts over a pre-defined
angle)
Upon
a duress alarm being raised at Aldersgate, a message is automatically
broadcast out to staff detailing the identity of the unit and its
location, while also letting them know which type of alarm was
raised. Along with this, staff have the ability to visually identify
the location of a duress event on a site map via the alarm management
module known as DURAalarm. This allows all LAN based Java enabled
computers to view in real time, via text or graphical information,
the location of all alarms from the wireless duress handsets.
The
management team at Aldersgate wanted their staff to have complete
confidence in and understanding of the duress functionality
implemented by IW. In order to achieve this, IW introduced DURAtest,
a live testing application that allows staff to test their handset's
duress functionality at the beginning of every shift. This process
increases their familiarity with the duress operation and gives them
certainty that an immediate response will be actioned should a
problem arise.
 |
| Uniting Care- Aldersgate Facility |
In
addition, IW's solution integrates through to the existing nursecall,
fire panel and access control systems at the Aldersgate facility.
This allows all nursecall notifications sent within the system to be
broadcast out to the appropriate staff member using differentiating
tones and following an escalation process should the message not be
accepted. Integration through to the fire panel allows mass broadcast
out to appropriate staff for rapid response, whilst integrating with
access control systems allow defined staff to open doors for
visitors.
Finally,
IW provided ENSURElog, a software module that permanently stores all
communications (alarms, messages, response recordings and phone
activity) sent within the system onto a central logging database. All
entries are date/time stamped and can be easily accessed by
authorised personnel for reporting and auditing purposes, giving
management a very powerful OH&S tool to improve response
coordination, reduce litigation and potentially highlight a need for
staff training.
“When Uniting Communities went out to market for a new communication and duress solution, we were not expecting to find a vendor who could meet all of our essential and desired requirements. Integrated Wireless have not only provided our Aldersgate facility with such a solution, they have offered superior support and training after the completion of the project.”
- Carol McArthur, Group Manager Residential Care Services, Uniting Communities
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more information regarding this case and other IW solutions, click here!
