We are always looking for new, better ways to do things at The Maplewood.
Screening requirements associated with COVID-19 include checking each employee for fever upon entering the facility for work each day. We also require that everyone be wearing a mask. Initially, we assigned screening duties to members of our staff, locating them at the employee entrance to take temperatures and ensure that each person had a mask on.
Now, we’ve installed a new thermal scanning technology that offers no contact screening to check for elevated temperature and that the person entering is wearing a mask. The device detects faces and temperatures as each employee comes through the staff entry door. If the person is not wearing their mask, they will hear a reminder to “please wear your mask”. If a fever of over 100 degrees is detected, an alert will sound, lights will flash and designated administrative staff will receive an email notification. Should this occur, the employee will immediately see to the nurse manager to receive additional screening and instructions. The camera also captures a thermal image plus a photo, so we can identify each person (see an example of a thermal image in the 13 WHAM video screenshot below).
We see several benefits in using this new technology. It eliminates the need for a staff member to be in close contact with each person entering to take temperatures and removes human error. Since it detects temperatures in 1 second, there is no wait time, so when multiple staff are entering during a shift change, they are not lining up near each other to wait for a temperature check. It also provides us with concrete documentation of all staff entering the building with time stamps, thermal images and photos.
We have also added this technology to other entrances for screening all visitors entering the facility.
To learn more, check out this video of an interview with 13 WHAM News about how thermal scanning cameras are a future possibility for many businesses.