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Wi-Fi RFID Alerts Espirito Santo Saude's Staff
The residents also carry Ekahau T301BD badges. If they require assistance, they can press a button on the badge, which transmits its unique ID number to Wi-Fi access points covering the entire campus. That ID number and alert status is also received by Ekahau's software, which then links the ID to the tag's location, and again sends the alert to nurses in the form of a text message on a screen on their own Ekahau badges, thereby indicating there is an alert, as well as in which room the button was pressed. The message is sent only once, and the staff need not acknowledge the message or their response.
At Hospital da Luz, which has 168 beds, a similar Ekahau system was installed in early 2010 throughout the 328,000-square-foot building complex. Patients, however, are not issued Ekahau T301BD badges.
The lightweight Ekahau Wi-Fi badges carried by workers were a better alternative to mobile or Wi-Fi phones that are not carried all the time by staff members, Fernandes says, and which can be heavier and more inconvenient to carry.
The wall-mounted call buttons can be moved or added at any time, without reconfiguring the software. If a tag needs to be moved from one public area to another, for example, it is simply placed on a new wall and the Wi-Fi system begins locating it at that new location.
Hospital da Luz intends to now begin tracking assets with the system as well, starting with tags on IV pumps and vital sign monitors, in addition to other highly mobile, high-value equipment. Eventually, Vieira says, the system will be installed in other facilities. "We are in the initial phase of the project, testing and measuring all the capabilities of the technology," he states. "We are continuing watching for new opportunities that can gain with RTLS."
"For now," Vieira adds, "we are paying attention [to] the design of the wireless network in every new or redesigned facility, allowing us to use RTLS everywhere."
When it comes to the next phase of the installation at Casas da Cidade, he says, "We are going to add some intelligence to the system—like, for instance, the ability to detect that someone is at some unusual area during the night. This could help prevent accidents, caused by [a resident's] disorientation during the night."
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At Hospital da Luz, which has 168 beds, a similar Ekahau system was installed in early 2010 throughout the 328,000-square-foot building complex. Patients, however, are not issued Ekahau T301BD badges.
The lightweight Ekahau Wi-Fi badges carried by workers were a better alternative to mobile or Wi-Fi phones that are not carried all the time by staff members, Fernandes says, and which can be heavier and more inconvenient to carry.
The wall-mounted call buttons can be moved or added at any time, without reconfiguring the software. If a tag needs to be moved from one public area to another, for example, it is simply placed on a new wall and the Wi-Fi system begins locating it at that new location.
Hospital da Luz intends to now begin tracking assets with the system as well, starting with tags on IV pumps and vital sign monitors, in addition to other highly mobile, high-value equipment. Eventually, Vieira says, the system will be installed in other facilities. "We are in the initial phase of the project, testing and measuring all the capabilities of the technology," he states. "We are continuing watching for new opportunities that can gain with RTLS."
When it comes to the next phase of the installation at Casas da Cidade, he says, "We are going to add some intelligence to the system—like, for instance, the ability to detect that someone is at some unusual area during the night. This could help prevent accidents, caused by [a resident's] disorientation during the night."
