Health officials believe that seniors are more vulnerable to COVID-19 than other demographics, which is why more precautions should be taken to monitor and protect residents of care and acute care facilities. Since the outbreak of the virus, older adults and those with weakened immune systems or underlying medical conditions seem to be affected at higher rates. Protecting the residents of your facilities should be a top priority. Here are five of the best ways to do that.
1. Limit Visitation
Limiting certain visitors to the facility, including food delivery staff and guests can help keep your facility more secure. Put a policy in place that limits non-essential visitors to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Limiting visitations to essential visitors can not only prevent visitors from bringing the virus into the facility but also prevent any guests who might’ve contracted the virus after visiting from spreading it. Limiting visitation might mean restricting guests to family members only and temporarily preventing any volunteers from coming into the facility.
2. Have a Single Entrance
Having only one single entrance during the pandemic is essential to keeping the residents safe and protected. This makes it easier to control the flow of visitors into and out of the building. It’s important to reduce your residents’ exposure to outside guests and visitors as much as possible; restricting guest and staff access to one entrance can help limit the amount of foot traffic into the building.
3. Upgrade Your Security System
If you don’t already have a security camera system in place, it’s time to consider getting one so that you can monitor and protect the residents effectively and efficiently. Place your security cameras at the front entrance, in hallways and staircases, in potentially hazardous areas, around the perimeter and in parking lots for the best coverage. Doing so can help you watch over every area of the facility throughout the day to ensure your employees and residents are following new policies like the “one entrance only” policy.
4. Keep Visiting Hours Short
Stores around the country are dedicating the early morning hours to seniors and at-risk individuals so they can do their shopping separately from the rest of the population. Taking these measures is an attempt to keep in line with social distancing orders and allow seniors and at-risk individuals to take their time shopping while keeping their distance from others. Follow suit and keep visiting hours shorter to help limit exposure to those who might have the virus.
5. Limit or Cancel Gatherings
Avoid events and gatherings that keep residents in close proximity to each other. If you decide to continue with activities, make sure that high-risk areas are secure and that there’s adequate supervision to ensure that any new policies regarding COVID-19 are followed.
Putting Best Practices in Place
Following these security practices can help you secure your facility and reduce your staff members’ and residents’ exposure to the virus as much as possible. Develop new policies and procedures surrounding the aforementioned information and find the right business security camera system for your care facility so that you can ensure everyone is safe.
