Reduce Costs - Increase Security

A new private niche channel? No, the abbreviation RTLS stands for ‘Real Time Location System’. Because GPS has its limitations in buildings, this technology makes use of the WiFi network that is usually available.

Crime scene: hospital. Unfortunately, assaults by patients under the influence of alcohol, suffering from psychosis or dementia are not uncommon. Nursing staff are increasingly becoming victims of violent attacks. If a nurse is on their own, help must arrive quickly. This is particularly true when a female nurse is attacked by a male patient. In many cases, it is difficult or even impossible to make an emergency call by telephone.

Protecting staff and patients

This is where the Real Time Location System comes in. RTLS makes use of the Wi-Fi network that is usually already available in hospitals. Whereas nursing staff used to have to pick up the phone, dial a number and explain where they were in an emergency, they can now – equipped with a pager – trigger the emergency call in a fraction of a second using a pull cord switch. Their attention remains focused on the patient at all times. Valuable time is saved. The colleagues who receive the alarm can see exactly where it was triggered, down to within a metre.

The University Hospital Innsbruck uses the system in its emergency room and for employee safety in its psychiatric ward, for example. The system is also suitable for protecting dementia patients. Equipped with a patient wristband, these patients can enjoy more freedom again. Thanks to RTLS tracking, their radius of action can be increased again without the risk of them getting lost. This improves the quality of life and safety for this patient group.

Making the Wi-Fi network visible

The company Ekahau plays a key role in the field of RTLS and Wi-Fi positioning. In addition to Ekahau RTLS, the Finnish software company also developed Ekahau Site Survey (ESS) – a programme that is now considered the industry standard. ESS is one of the fastest and most user-friendly Wi-Fi surveying and planning tools. During a site survey, it records all received access points and enters them with their parameters into a 3D network plan. This three-dimensional approach allows users to maximise network coverage across all floors of a building. The applications used, such as the RTLS positioning solution, are also taken into account.

Device management with RTLS

Device management and process optimisation are important factors in an industry that is under increasing cost pressure. A hospital on the west coast of Schleswig-Holstein with 600 beds and around 2,000 employees has a WLAN network that was planned entirely with Ekahau Site Survey. In addition to protecting employees in the psychiatric ward and on night duty, RTLS is used there to locate the hospital's own wheelchairs. Previously, these had to be constantly searched for and collected, or they disappeared altogether. The location of maintenance-intensive, expensive technical equipment such as beds, infusion pumps, etc. can also be easily tracked. Monitoring of target and actual inventories, optimised utilisation and availability of equipment, maintenance management, controlled equipment recalls, cleaning and disinfection, optimised processes for fault reports: the Ekahau Vision programme, which is easily controlled via a browser, displays the exact position of equipment equipped with location tags on previously stored floor plans.

Process optimisation and temperature monitoring

The operating theatre is a very expensive resource in a hospital. Given the flat rates per case, efficient utilisation is crucial for profitability. Efficient operating theatre planning and process optimisation require accurate time stamps, which cannot be provided quickly and accurately enough by manual recording after the fact. A surgical clinic in Berlin that specialises in minimally invasive procedures therefore uses RTLS to optimise its operating theatre processes. Patients are given Ekahau tags while still in the ward. The process flow (ward, induction, operating theatre, discharge, recovery room, ward) is tracked automatically.

Thanks to tags with temperature sensors, Ekahau Vision can also ensure that refrigerators and freezers for blood, tissue, medicine, food, etc. are kept within a safe temperature range. The team is relieved of legal documentation obligations. These are ensured without manual work and possible input errors. Unreliable refrigeration units can be clearly identified. Thanks to timely alerts when temperatures approach the limit values, costly waste of resources is prevented.

Conclusion:

The possible applications are virtually unlimited: whether operating resources, hospital beds or medical devices – with Ekahau RTLS real-time location tracking, the objects you are looking for can be found quickly. Defective devices can be reported at the touch of a button, minimising downtime. Valuable equipment is secured against unauthorised removal or theft at low cost. Text messages can be sent quickly and easily to any number of people via the integrated messaging system. Ekahau RTLS reminds you of routine tasks that are easy to forget at set intervals, functions as a motion detector with an alarm function and ensures the safety of staff and patients as an emergency transmitter.