Southern Ohio Medical Center Implements Security Screening with Evolv That Aims to be Non-Invasive

Southern Ohio Medical Center in Portsmouth Ohio was very close to implementing a manual security experience a couple of years back. “We were very close to rolling out an implementation,” recalls David Hall, SOMC’s Manager of Security Operations. “But the entire process was very invasive. Everyone who goes through a manual security procedure must remove everything from their pockets and go through it multiple times. The high volume of nuisance alarms was something we didn’t want to deal with.” They wanted to implement a different solution aimed at helping serve their staff without compromising the efficiency of the hospital.

“We had a lot of ED staff telling us they were very concerned about safety,” Hall says. “They wanted to be able to take care of patients and not worry about their safety. Indeed, when the ED nursing staff found out that we were putting the Express systems in place, they were very excited. I remember one of the nurses in the meeting where we announced the decision pumping her fist and exclaiming, ‘Yes!’”

Through implementing the Express, Southern Ohio Medical Center was able to:

• Identify weapons on two individuals within the first hour of deployment.
• Use Evolv Insights analytics to help demonstrate security posture to executive staff and board.
• Create security screenings intended to be inviting and non-intrusive for efficient patient ingress.