How MedStar Harbor Hospital Enabled Discreet Calls for Help with RTLS
MedStar equipped behavioral health staff with wearable duress tags that send an assistance request and the wearer’s location through the nurse call system.
Discreet assistance requests
A wearable button replaces the need to reach a wall button
Location with each alert
Administrative and security staff receive the wearer’s location
Staff adoption
SmartTags became mandatory across behavioral health units
- Location
- Baltimore, Maryland, USA
- Care setting
- Behavioral health
- Technology deployed
- Sonitor Sense RTLS
- Partners
- Comm-Tronics and West-Com
The challenge
Fixed emergency buttons could be hard to reach during a threatening encounter. Their activation identified the button’s location, which did not always establish where the staff member was. This challenge highlights the importance of effective staff safety and duress solutions, which are designed to help organizations protect employees and accelerate emergency response during high-risk situations.
The solution in practice
Sonitor and Comm-Tronics integrated wearable Sonitor Sense RTLS SmartTags with West-Com’s nurse call system. Pressing the tag’s duress button sends an alert and location to administrative and security personnel.
Results and impact
Staff could request assistance discreetly without reaching a fixed alarm. The hospital required SmartTags across its behavioral health units, and Amanda Davis described a shift from initial resistance to strong staff adoption.
“Armed with the ability to push a button on a wearable badge is major when a staff member is in danger. Staff can immediately be located even if they can’t talk! We moved from a culture of resistance to adoption of this technology very quickly based on safety. It has been quite a change around here. Staff went from not knowing where their wearable tag was to refusing to work without it! Safety is everything.”
Make Staff Assistance Easier to Reach
Review how your team requests help today. Talk to Sonitor about duress alerts, location requirements and integration with your existing communication systems.