Dear ERICA,
As the holiday season arrives and pressures build, you will find some helpful information below. We look forward to your participation in the November 22 Meeting at John Jay College of Criminal Justice on West 59th Street, NYC. Details are on the right and below. Please reserve your spot and bring your questions with you.
Articles are below -and we are still looking for your input. Please write about your experiences -the issues that you envision will be important in the coming year and the challenges. We look forward to staying at the cutting edge with the latest information for security and safety professionals involved in healthcare and health-related organizations.
- CLIPBOARD is a great place to get your articles published and share material with colleagues.
If you haven't already joined MHSDA and separately, IAHSS NYC Chapter, now is the time to do it. Whether you are leading the team at your facility, managing day-to-day operations, serving at the front desk, patrolling, or working with visitors and patients everyday, there's a membership category just right for you. And if you are with one of the thousands of organizations that supplies our industry with contract services and the other tools to support success, MHSDA has membership categories that will be beneficial to you as well.
For answers to questions, for more information about IAHSS NYC Chapter and MHSDA or expanded material on subjects covered here, please drop us an email at: clipboardnyc@gmail.com. We are working on developing a website for MHSDA and the NYC Chapter of IAHSS. AND if you have material to contribute for the next newsletter, let us know now. December is just around the corner!
Thank you,
Anthony S. Notaroberta, PCI
Chapter Treasurer and Secretary
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Ready to Nominate a Security Officer or Member of Your Team for our NEW RECOGNITION PROGRAM?
 Each quarter MHSDA and IAHSS NYC Chapter will be recognizing an outstanding security officer or member of your security team who is working in healthcare security or safety. Is someone at your facility the right choice for the first of these special awards?
It's part-one of our new initiatives. We want to begin with acknowledging people on your staff or under contract to you who already demonstrate the qualities that make them outstanding.
Knowing how busy your management is, here are some criteria you may want to consider for the first-quarter 2014 award. And those who don't make it onto your list right away may be up for consideration during the next round of nominations later in 2014.
Consider some of these criteria that may be particularly applicable:
* Long term quality service
* Special incident response
* Innovative ideas put into practice (at the front desk sign-in sheet- have translations of "Welcome" in 12 languages to "speak" to all the visitors that the building usually accommodates)
* Life-saving actions (AED, addressing an epileptic fit in lobby, calming an unstable individual at the front desk before the police arrive, preventing a person from harming themselves or others,etc.)
We are creating nomination forms and developing the specifics about the application process. Please share your input with us now so we can make this a valuable and useful program.
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Joseph J. Gulinello, member of MHSDA and long standing member of the ASIS NYC Chapter and Senior Council Vice President for ASIS International, received the 2013 ASIS International Presidential Award of Merit. The award was presented by ASIS President Geoffrey Craighead on September 24th at the networking luncheon of the Annual Conference in Chicago, attended by more than 25,000 security professionals.
Craighead acknowledged that: "Joseph J. Gulinello is being honored for his unwavering volunteer service with the ASIS Councils since 1997. For the last three years, he has served as the Senior Council Vice President.."
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RxPATROL: A Resource to Mitigate Pharmacy CrimeRecently, an investigator, in a small South Carolina Police Department entered an incident of a pharmacy robbery he was investigating into the RxPATROL database. After conducting a brief search of the data in RxPATROL, he discovered that eight days prior and 200 miles away, an investigator in a small town in North Carolina uploaded an incident of a robbery and a surveillance photograph of a suspect that strongly resembled the suspect in the South Carolina investigation. With a few clicks of a mouse and a phone call the two robberies were linked. This is one of many successes attributed to the Rx Pattern Analysis Tracking Robberies & Other Losses program, known as RxPATROL (www.rxpatrol.org) and exemplifies its value in assisting law enforcement in combating pharmacy crimes.
Many criminals commit their crimes without a sense of jurisdictional boundaries, and at times, law enforcement agencies are over worked and under staffed, that criminal methods or patterns may go unrecognized. RxPATROL provides a central depository for information on pharmacy crimes and enhances opportunities for detecting and recognizing criminal activity within and beyond jurisdictional and geographical boundaries.
The RxPATROL program is free and no additional law enforcement resources are required to participate in the program. With a computer or mobile device connected to the internet, access to the database can be achieved from the field or the office.
This program was launched in 2003 to track, analyze and disseminate pharmacy crimes information to law enforcement, security professionals and the retail pharmacy community. It was developed and funded by Purdue Pharma L.P., a pharmaceutical company in Stamford, CT; in collaboration with the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA), National Association of Drug Diversion Investigators (NADDI) and the Pharmaceutical Security Institute (PSI) to address the rising incidents of pharmacy crimes. The intended goal of the initiative was to develop a mechanism to augment law enforcement's efforts to apprehend criminals who commit pharmacy crimes, in particular robberies and burglaries; to protect the pharmacy environment and most importantly, to ensure legitimate patients access to their medications.
This is a free voluntary participatory program that enlists the cooperation of all stakeholders to share information on pharmacy crimes. The data is validated and secured in a password protected database. All information in the database is vetted by an active law enforcement official working through a consulting company, before it is made available to subscribers.
Only vetted and approved applicants are provided passwords to search the database. Features include: search and mapping capabilities, pattern analysis (done via drop-down menus) and viewing and comparing photographs and related material.
The program also sends alerts via email and includes contact information for registered investigators. Since its launch, RxPATROL has become the only secured publicly available resource for intelligence on pharmacy crime in the United States.
With over 7700 incidents of pharmacy crimes and over 7600 registered users throughout the United States, RxPATROL has increasingly become a valuable resource for stakeholders, in particular the law enforcement community.
In 2005, the RxPATROL program was enhanced to include partnerships with local Crime Stoppers programs throughout the United States. It also provides short training videos on pharmacy safety and security; and a pharmacy security checklist to enhance awareness and provide information to the pharmacy community on securing the pharmacy environment.
Recognizing that technology is always evolving, RxPATROL has added twitter as another attribute of the program and can be followed through twitter @rxpatrol.
The above is a summary of information from Luis Bauza, Director of Investigations and RxPATROL Programs at Purdue Pharma LP.
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High Drama...
High Risk...
Higher Issues?
November 14, 2013: Milwaukee police officers entered Children's Hospital of Wisconsin in a suburb of the city with a search warrant for a man they knew was inside visiting an infant in the Neonatal Progressive Care Unit. They suspected he was armed based on the warrant itself.
Apparently, when confronted, the 22-year old man put the child down and, according to reports, acted as if he were going to comply with the officers. Then he tried to flee and showed a 40-caliber Glock. When he pulled the gun, officers wounded him in the arm and then removed him from the building.
Certainly it could have been a far more involved incident. However it raised questions without simple answers. We may have clear protocols for interactions with law enforcement inside our facilities. But now might be a good time to review them and see if they live up to what may be arriving with the ACA.
If we have emergency rooms and accept trauma victims, we've probably experienced incidents where after a car crash the police determine that one of the injured people, now in our hospital, is criminally at fault. Police officers arrive and we have supported them arresting that individual while he/she stays in our space and remains there being treated.
But whose call will lit be when the subject is physically able? What if the individual is not shoeless, not naked under a hospital gown ... nor attached to IV drips and not encumbered with casts and crutches?
When do we decide that the potential for injury to innocents on premises outweighs what law enforcement has determined as a "good place" to deal with the individual? What if our heritage has been as part of the same L/E organization? Our roles have changed so dramatically.
How can we establish the types of intervention we deem okay within our walls? How do we communicate what are acceptable risks at our facilities and where we drawn the line? And what if law enforcement personnel ignore our position and the mandates of our top management?
As we get ready for a new era in healthcare and changes in how easily federal and State authorities get information via HIPPA-protected data sources, this discussion is open.
Travel Teaches...
While I am visiting a major metropolis on the West Coast this week, I accompany someone on their visit to the outpatient buildings of a world-famous medical center. The first thing that strikes me is there are no security people anywhere on the ground floor. There are no check points, no turnstiles ... apparently no access control. Yet the only people coming through the lobby areas seem to be those going to visit the eight floors of medical and clinical offices. In other words, everyone is going about their business without any interruptions. No one is loitering. Every ethnicity, every age group, every condition from physically fit to wheelchair bound, is accounted for in the array of patients.
When I ask about access control and security personnel, I am informed that the only time there ever was congestion in the entire lobby was when flu shot season began. There were lines of people snaking out the doors. Otherwise, it is usually calm, almost serene.
We do not encounter security personnel anywhere on our visit. Yet, before leaving after the appropriate treatment has been administered, we stop by to give encouragement to someone we know who has been suffering with brain cancer. She now seems to be recovering because of the advanced outpatient treatments this institution provides.
A white-coated medical person, seated at a group of desks in a center cluster away from treatment areas, sees us walking through the floor -obviously not in treatment. He lifts his head up and takes an authoritative posture, suggesting that we do not belong where we are. He then bellows: "Can I help you?" I am almost going to chuckle. Instead, I answer that we have just stopped by to check on Lily and see how she is doing during her treatment. His face turns red. He feigns a smile. He nods his head -acknowledging that providing her with encouragement is a good idea.
It sure ain't New York....
Erica Harrison, CPP
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SEE IT - SAVE IT - USE IT
Video Surveillance in Healthcare
Some observations from Schneider Electric - Pelco
As healthcare facilities grow larger and provide around-the-clock care, they become increasingly more vulnerable to a wider variety of security threats. Country-specific healthcare guidelines mandate varying levels of security under "environment of care" standards -so there is no single solution that is the right tool and right solution across the board. But there are categories of improvements that can be put to use now, no matter where the facility is located.
Since first responsibilities in a healthcare setting include ensuring patient safety along with quality care, we have to go beyond the technology, life-saving tools and the medical personnel we always associate with healthcare. Our security and safety personnel are fulfilling an increasingly complex part of the mission, helping mitigate risks.
Video has become an essential tool in our arsenal. In the past, video surveillance systems may have included analog cameras and VCRs. Yet it was time-consuming and often not fruitful to review hundreds of hours of low-resolution tape.
Today, cameras have embedded processors that enable video to be compressed within the device and transmitted over real-time IP networks. Megapixel camera technology has ushered in a new era for the video security industry-providing clear, detailed, and expansive images-while combining sophisticated features such as wide dynamic range; low light, anti-bloom capabilities; and thermal imaging into a single, intelligent camera. The video management software can use new technology as well as extend the life of older camera technology, to better utilize the hospital's current assets and recording solutions. Digital video recorders (DVR) and network video recorders (NVR) can be managed and utilized in both distributed and centralized command and control environments. They have the ability to locate data, process images, and transmit vital information immediately with the ease of graphical user interfaces and interpretive software.
The advent of video analytics brings additional flexibility. It increases productivity for security personnel monitoring the surveillance systems since they can be alerted to crucial activity.
When an analytic is active, it can send an alarm or warning message or video to remote locations and mobile devices. The software can provide specific and detailed information regarding events and the type of alarm condition while reducing false alarms.
It makes sense to increase our effectiveness in meeting our part of the mission by incorporating modern video security into our systems as part of providing safe, secure environments we seek.
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This space reserved for your NEXT ARTICLE
 What's the next critical thing you want to write about?
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We invite you to invite your colleagues to join us and help us grow the organization.
Our focus: to better serve you
Now, as we wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving and it is getting late into 2013 and we are also putting together the MHSDA membership applications for 2014.
We'll send applications to you as soon as they are released. So drop us an email in November or December at: clipboardnyc@gmail.com.
Include your mailing address, work contact information, email and phone number.
Applications for IAHSS are available on-line. Please drop an email to: clipboardnyc@gmail.com for important information to ensure you are assigned to the NYC Chapter.
Join us for the November 22 program at John Jay and we also look forward to your articles, news about your career and important information you want to share in Clipboard for next month.
Sincerely,
Robert Casazza
Chapter President
and
Your Board of Directors
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In the next months there will be Quick Links to:
Our Website That's In the Works and Other News 
Soon, you'll be able to find more resources every month via CLIPBOARDNewsletter.
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Upcoming Meeting:
November 22, 2013Join us at noon. The program begins at12:30 PM
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LOCATION: John Jay College of Criminal Justice
445 West 59th Street in Room 2200N
PROGRAM & SPEAKERS:
Our speakers will be Marc Fliedner, Narcotics Bureau Chief of the King's County District Attorney's Office and Joseph Piraino, Supervising Detective Investigator, Kings County D.A.
Topics include the new I-STOP program, e-prescriptions, "doctor shopping", prescription fraud. Get questions answered. Address concerns of the in-healthcare-facility pharmacists who may need to be better prepared to quickly summons security. And in healthcare facilities that have moved pharmacies to other locations -What additional protocols can help pharmacy workers when dealing with potentially violent and addicted people in their midst?
We've also invited Luis Bauza, Director of Investigations at Purdue Pharma (the company behind creatingRxPATROL®) to answer questions and give us some insights into how this program can serve us.
Will you be there Friday?
SIGN UP NOW!Right now, send an email with your name, phone and email address to us at:
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UPCOMING EVENT:
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We are arranging a
HOLIDAY CELEBRATION for early JANUARY 2014.
Count on joining us for this networking event that will be at a special location with great refreshments. Consider bringing colleagues you wish to introduce to MHSDA!
More details on this in the nextCLIPBOARDNewsletterDecember, 2013
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Each quarter MHSDA and IAHSS NYC Chapter will be recognizing an outstanding security officer who is working in healthcare security or safety. Is someone at your facility the right choice for the first of these special awards?
