GPS Guard

Lone and High-Risk Worker Safety Protection for Healthcare Nurse and Care Workers

Management of Workplace Aggression and Violence – ZERO tolerance

Occupational violence is not just limited to hospitals but also including all health care working environments where nurses engage; for example: rural, remote, community, mental health, and aged care.

Healthcare nurses and social community care sector have seen an increase of workplace violence, abuse and aggressive behaviour towards our front-line care workers. This has spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially at the start.

The team at GPS Geo Guard have worked with all areas of health care and community care organisations to deploy a tailor made GPS Geo Guard solution to help mitigate risk.

Main risks in Health Sector

Health care workers face two main risk profiles:

Social Risk

Being that of work place violence and aggressive behavior; physical or verbal assault

Physical Risk

Slip/trip/fall/person down or incapacity, unconsciousness, accident or incident, or even a medical situation

WHY EVERYONE IS CHOOSING GPS GEO GUARD

All health workers should be treated with dignity and respect.

We may know the risk profile of our client, but not who is going to be there at the same time as your time of visit or what may occur at the job environment.

Implementing the GPS Geo Guard Personal Safety Solution can deliver safety benefits to the front-line health care workers, and also help department managers and the wider organisation deliver genuine value to the employer in terms of safety, quicker emergency response, operational and increasing staff moral knowing they have something just in case.

Attending a private house/Hospital in the Home (HITH)

Home and Community Care (HACC)

Mental and Psychology Care

Alcohol and other Drug Care and Services

Disability Care

Mobile community-based work force

Respite care quality of life for the patient

Live-in Care

Working in multiple locations

Emergency after hours work

Lone wolf attacks of retaliation when wearing health identification

Benefits of using Gps Geo Guard Solution in all Health Care departments and sectors

Helping customers to:

Give 100% peace of mind to mobile workforce staff and lone or high-risk workers with 24/7 instant Emergency Alarm Monitoring and support, with the GPS Geo Guard discreet personal safety devices

Document verbal abuse with live and recorded audio to stop the “he said, she said” situation and verbal assault; best practice for internal discipline or escalation to Police

Deliver protection against person down, slips/trips/falls, incapacitation, or medical emergency incident

Get instant continuous up to date location information to assist better coordination across mobile teams and reallocation of workforce

Deliver up to date live reporting to key stakeholders on GPS Geo Guard Device and solution usage, for 100% user uptake and better business or organisation’s continuity

Greater visibility and enhanced safety protocols and procedures around the use of the GPS Geo Guard of any mobile workforce

Creating a positive Safety Culture and encouraging your workforce to report incidents, and document them effectively enhancing faster responses and better outcomes.

Even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an increase in violence. Australian studies indicate the rate of verbal abuse is increasing and is experienced by 95% to 100% of ED nurses, with 87% reporting experiencing violence in the previous six months and 40% in the previous week. (Source)

Many Government and Community Health Organisations have implemented the GPS Geo Guard Personal Emergency Devices as part of their safety protocols; wether being used internal in a hospital environment or external, to lift the health workers moral and enhance safety, so they can go on giving the best care for their patients and able to raise an immediate alarm with live audio and recording for speed for response when they feel unsafe. GPS Geo Guard uses Propriety Technology to give the most accurate internal positioning for on-site security staff and Police to attend the incident.

In Australia, patient initiated aggression and violence toward general practitioners has been much publicised in the media in recent times after the death of a Melbourne GP and the recent stabbing of a Sydney GP. These incidents highlight the vulnerability of GPs, who have a duty of care to provide primary care for a cross section of the community, including potentially violent or aggressive individuals. Like any other place of employment in Australia, primary care workplaces have a duty of care to employees under health and safety legislation.

Occupational Violence is defined as any incident where a worker is physically attacked or threatened in the workplace or during workplace activities. Within this definition: a threat is a statement (verbal), or behaviour that causes a reasonable person to believe they are in danger of being physically attacked. A physical attack is the direct or indirect application of force by a person to the body of, or to clothing or equipment worn by, another person where that application creates a risk to health and safety.

There are three categories of workplace violence:

‘External’ violence

Violence perpetrated by persons outside the organization

‘Client-initiated’ violence

Violence inflicted on workers by their customers or clients

‘Internal’ violence

Violence that has occurred between employees within an organisation, such as between supervisors and employee or employees and apprentices

WHY EVERYONE IS CHOOSING GPS GEO GUARD

MORE DISCREET • MORE ACCURATE • MORE RELIABLE • MORE USER-FRIENDLY • MORE LIVES SAVED • MORE AFFORDABLE