Monitoring with IP video surveillance cameras to improve patient care

Nemours Children's Hospital in Orlando (Florida- United States) has integrated AXIS Communications IP cameras into its Tactical Logistics Center to monitor and visualize small patients 24/7.

Network video surveillance cameras installed in children's hospital Nemours help nurses, doctors and parents of children to continuously monitor their vital signs, detect small visual changes in health and thus speed up the emergency response if it occurs.

A rotating team of paramedics at the Tactical Logistics Center (Tlc) hospital continuously checks vital signs of children admitted through a bank of clinical review monitors.

In addition to monitoring clinical data, these authorized personnel can turn on the video camera installed in the room within seconds of an alarm, to check and verify subtle changes in physiology that may indicate that a child is in danger, immediately sending a blue code or quick response team to serve you.

Nemours managers have collaborated with Swedish manufacturer Axis Communications to configure the IP cameras that have been installed for this project, specifically the P33 domes, that have seamlessly integrated with the hospital's clinical monitoring system.

Such IP cameras are programmed to operate with a privacy curtain. That's why a requirement is for paramedics to call the room and notify him before turning on the camera to observe the patient. A Led on camera lets those present in the little ones' room know when the device is transmitting.

Joe Summanen, technical architect at Nemours Children's Hospital, points out that "we are one of the first pediatric hospitals to implement this type of third-level monitoring with video verification. With Axis cameras we can provide an extra level of attention, even when the medical staff is not in the room".

FTA paramedics monitor more than a hundred patient beds in Nemours, as well as more than 150 beds in his sister hospital, Nemours Children's Hospital – Alfred I. Dupont, located in Wilmington. When alarms are triggered at any of these centers, their managers can quickly differentiate between extreme emergencies and non-serious situations for the patient.

"Giving paramedics the ability to observe the incidents that can occur in each room makes patients receive the care they need much faster," adds Dr Torres, head of critical care at the children's hospital. With Axis cameras we are more proactive in our responses, instead of reagents, and that helps us achieve excellence in pediatric care".

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