Winnipeg Health Sciences Centre Staff Outfitted with Personal Alarms

he alarms act as a personal security device and emit a loud noise when triggered.

• By Sydny Shepard
• Dec 05, 2018

Staff at Winnipeg's Health Sciences Centre are getting a miniature personal alarm as part of a new set of security measures for the hospital. The alarms act as a personal security device and emit a loud noise when triggered.

Staff are encouraged to keep the alarms on their person while working with patients and walking to their vehicles after work, a spokesperson for the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority confirmed to local news last week.

The alarms have become an important piece of hospital security following many high profile attacks on caregivers at hospitals. The hospital has been the site of multiple violent incidents where patients presented with aggressive and unpredictable behavior. 

A September letter from the Manitoba Government and General Employee's Union to the province referenced two attacks in particular, one were a corrections officer was stabbed with a pair of surgical scissors and another when a security officer was stabbed with a syringe full of blood.

The union, in that letter, called for greater powers for security officers at the hospital to deal with meth-related violence.

The hospital system has been stepping up security lately, restricting hours for visitors and hiring additional security staff.