Battery-powered Locks Keep Medications Safe at Utah’s Unified Fire Authority

Established in 2003, the Unified Fire Authority provides five cities in Salt Lake County, Utah with fire and paramedic service. A main office oversees the 22 stations in the Authority, each with two crews of firefighters and paramedics, explains Michael Bohling, captain of the Salt Lake County, Utah Unified Fire Authority and a 20-year veteran with the service.

The paramedics must carry and, where necessary, administer narcotic medications, but restocking presented a problem. The Authority had to find a way to secure its supply of the medications in accordance with government regulations after delivery from the central office to the 21 affiliated fire stations.

The small stations might not be overseen by authorized personnel if both fire and paramedic crews were out on calls. The result was added expense and wasted hours for redelivery to the far-flung stations: in fact, delivery and redelivery to the stations under these conditions became essentially a full-time job, Bohling notes.

Implementing the solution

The solution was suggested by Dave Vawdrey system integrator with Pro Security Products of Sandy, Utah. As implemented, each station is now provided with a small, secure drug box/safe fitted with a battery-powered iLocker lock. A large dedicated safe in the central UFA administration office has been outfitted with an online, hard-wired system. This state-of-the-art electronic access control system is supplied by Salto Systems Inc., with U.S. headquarters in Atlanta, GA.

The battery-powered iLockers are an excellent solution, says Capt. Mike Bohling. Authorized delivery personnel and paramedics use their Salto system cards to access the safes, and the captain makes programming changes as needed and receives the required audits at his main office; he can also change lock programming from the main office, using the Salto software over UFA’s network. In most cases monthly medication level restocking is adequate, resulting in a great savings of time and manpower.

Each station has three shifts of two medics each, so ultimately about 225 paramedics have access to the safes. Each rig signs out a small supply of the necessary controlled medications that is always with them when they go on a call to a house, a traffic accident, etc.

The Salto system gives the Authority a secure and consistent way to keep good track of its products.

“We know who enters the safe, when they open it and when they close it, so we have exact documentation of everybody who goes into and out of the safe to add to the documentation of medication given to patients. We find the software intuitive and easy to use,” Bohling said.

There also is a large Salto-protected safe at administration headquarters where the bulk of the medications are stored for distribution as needed.

The Salto System is now being expanded from just the narcotics safes to the station entry systems. Three new stations have been fitted with Salto entry systems and responsible personnel in the department have been issued an access card.

The work is funded with municipal revenues, and as the program is expanded the UFA will proceed to upgrade entry to the remaining 19 stations.

“Since we’ve had the safes in place we have not had a discrepancy with our medications,” Bohling said.

Featured

  • Live From ISC West: Day 2 Recap

    If it’s even possible, Day 2 of ISC West in Las Vegas, Nevada, was even busier than the first. Remember to keep tabs on our Live From ISC West page for news and updates from the show floor at the Venetian, because there’s more news coming out than anyone could be expected to keep track of. Our Live From sponsors—NAPCO Security, Alibi Security, Vistacom, RGB Spectrum, and DoorKing—kept the momentum from Day 1 going with packed booths, happy hours, giveaways, product demonstrations, and more. Read Now

    • Industry Events
    • ISC West
  • Visiting Sin City

    I’m a recovering alcoholic, ten years sober this June. I almost wrote “recovered alcoholic,” because it’s a problem I’ve long since put to bed in every practical sense. But anyone who’s dealt with addiction knows that that part of your brain never goes away. You just learn to tell the difference between that insidious voice in your head and your actual internal monologue, and you get better at telling the other guy to shut up. Read Now

  • On My Way Out the Door

    To answer that one question I always get, at every booth visit, I have seen amazing product technology, solutions and above all else, the people that make it all work. Read Now

    • Industry Events
    • ISC West
  • Return to Form

    My first security trade show was in 2021. At the time, I was awed by the sheer magnitude of the event and the spectacle of products on display. But this was the first major trade show coming out of the pandemic, and the only commentary I heard was how low the attendance was. Two representatives from one booth even spent the last morning playing catch in the aisle with their giveaway stress balls. Read Now

    • Industry Events
    • ISC West

Featured Cybersecurity

New Products

  • Dinkle DKU Barrier Terminal Blocks

    Dinkle DKU Barrier Terminal Blocks

    New DKU screw type terminal blocks use a spring-guided system where the screws are integrated and captive within the terminal enclosure. These screws can be backed out so that ring- or U-shaped cable lugs can be inserted, without the possibility of losing the screw. 3

  • Videoloft Cloud Video Surveillance VSaaS Solution

    Videoloft Cloud Video Surveillance VSaaS Solution

    Videoloft focuses on transforming traditional professional surveillance systems into cloud connected solutions via the Videoloft Cloud Adapter. 3

  • BIO-key MobileAuth

    BIO-key MobileAuth

    BIO-key International has introduced its new mobile app, BIO-key MobileAuth™ with PalmPositive™ the latest among over sixteen strong authentication factors available for BIO-key's PortalGuard® Identity-as-a-Service (IDaaS) platform. 3