By Jeff Wardon, Jr., Assistant Editor

While many violent incidents can spur lockdowns in healthcare facilities, sometimes the potential of violence alone is enough to trigger a lockdown. This is something Sentara Norfolk General Hospital recently displayed as a shooting victim was admitted to their emergency department. 

According to 13 News Now, a shooting victim drove themselves to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital's emergency department on June 9, prompting a temporary lockdown. Hospital officials said that a lockdown is used as a precautionary measure when they treat victims of violence. The lockdown has since ended, and normal operations have resumed. Details about the shooting and the victim’s condition remain limited as the situation is still developing. 

Lockdowns are a critical part of a healthcare facility’s security procedures, as they prevent any threats from entering, escaping or spreading. They can be aided by access control technologies by locking down and restricting access to certain areas of the building. This helps to immediately contain the threat into one area. Controls can also be applied to specific doors in a facility, further helping with threat containment.  

Related Content: 3 Benefits of Access Control Technology in Healthcare

Access controls also create audit trails, which are recorded logs of who accessed what systems, that can be useful for addressing violence, Kyle Pfeiffer, industry solutions leader – healthcare, SALTO Systems, told Healthcare Facilities Today. Healthcare facility managers can then use this information to help deter unauthorized access and hold people accountable for violating access permissions.  

These audit trails also provide logs on events like failed access attempts or doors forced open, which then alert security personnel to trigger lockdowns, according to 3sixtyintegrated. 

Audit trails can further assist lockdowns when they’re zone-based since the trails help verify whether certain zones have been secured successfully. Also, if someone were to enter a lockdown zone during or after it’s sealed, the system can flag it right away.  

When these resources are used together, they create a robust security response system for violent incidents and allow for measures such as lockdowns to be used effectively. 

Jeff Wardon, Jr., is the assistant editor of the facilities market.