Metrasens, a provider of advanced detection technology for security and safety applications, announced the launch of its next generation detection system, Metrasens Ultra™ with Xact ID™ intelligent detection technology for availability to the healthcare security market.
Metrasens Ultra, with limited release beginning in 2021, has now reached nearly 1,000 deployed systems around the world and has proven its efficacy in both detection performance as well as design aesthetics, both of which are key factors advocated for by cross functional hospital leadership.
The Rise of Violence in Healthcare
The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) calls it “a weed with deep roots that keeps growing.” 80% of emergency room physicians say violence in healthcare has harmed patient care, according to a report by the American College of Emergency Physicians. Additionally, 50% say hospitals can do more by adding security such as metal detectors and visitor screening.
Behind these figures are real people – friends, family, co-workers, neighbors – who are having to deal with these acts of violence at their place of work daily. The development of Metrasens Ultra has taken into consideration the many ways all of these people have been affected, inclusive of, but not limited to, gun violence.
Threats Present in Many Forms, with Knives and Bladed Weapons Being the Untold Story Next to Guns
Violence is carried out in many forms – verbal and physical – with a weapon being utilized alongside some of the common forms. When it comes to the definition of a weapon, guns get the most attention, and rightfully so due to their deadly potential. Yet, in addition to guns, underlying threats exist that contribute significantly to concerns by hospital leaders – and those are knives or other bladed weapons.
A Metrasens hospital customer in the Midwest region of the U.S. reported the confiscation of thousands of knives over the course of several months, having deployed a Metrasens product following two incidents involving bladed weapons. One of those incidents requiring a life-saving surgery from the use of the weapon.
Metrasens Ultra Combines Advanced Screening Technology + Carefully Defined + Simple Operation as the Trifecta for Success
Simply stated, Metrasens Ultra makes people screening suitable for healthcare facilities by allowing facilities to remain open and helpful rather than restricted and inaccessible— whilst maintaining proper aesthetics to feel appropriate for hospital environments.
Xact ID, Ultra’s detection technology component, was developed with system intelligence that drives performance through advanced software algorithms, machine learning, and sensor design. This results in excellent detection capability for a full range of threat items, including guns, knives, razor blades, and other concealable threat objects. This is all accomplished in a sleek, slender design that requires little footprint and no direct power source for flexible deployment in spaces often not designed for bulky security screening systems. Being an intelligent system, Metrasens Ultra increases in utility over time with software updates and upgrades. As needs for detecting threat items change, so too will Metrasens Ultra.
The technology is supported by carefully defined screening processes created collaboratively between Metrasens and customers. These processes take into consideration the targeted threat profiles, space/environment considerations, and the flow of foot traffic.
Usage of Metrasens Ultra by in-house or third-party security staff is a snap, with an intuitive user interface and easy to interpret zone indication LED’s that provide location on the body where a threat object is detected, taking away the guesswork and valuable time often wasted in secondary searches. Alert and operational activity data are captured automatically and stored for viewing on the user interface or downloaded into a report for management.
