As we continue to see stress on medical facilities, the need for behavioral health care services is also on the rise. Reports of people with symptoms of anxiety, depression, started or increased substance use, and stress-related symptoms, have almost doubled compared to prior to the pandemic. During the first 9 months of the pandemic, Americans reported rates of depression and anxiety six times higher than in 2019, Boston College researchers found.

One of the tools that we are seeing deployed quickly and more commonly in these facilities to help provide safety to both staff and patients is a real-time locating system or RTLS.
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‍How can staff members feel secure in the event a fellow staff or a patient poses a danger?

‍ZulaFly’s RTLS platform allows any staff member wearing a push-button badge to create a silent, location-based call for help whether they are inside or outside the building. These alerts allow other designated employees to receive the alert and dispatch immediate assistance to where the alert is being originated from, with unlimited escalations to ensure assistance is provided.
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As with many other workplaces, staff members in healthcare settings often spend more time with co-workers than with members of their own families. With workdays growing increasingly long the past couple of years and patience runs short, disputes and frustration between staff, patients, and family members wanting to see their loved one can become a reality. On rare occasions, these altercations can turn violent or dangerous to the point where a staff member needs to call out for help.
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Patient safety is also a top priority, especially for those that may wander into areas that they should not be. An automated alerting system such as ZulaFly can send an immediate alert to staff notifying them if a patient has inadvertently left their room during the night, is entering an elevator or stairwell, or is in a potentially combative situation, for example.
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Whether danger emerges during staff-to-patient interaction or staff-to-family encounters, ZulaFly is universally capable of offering daily security and confidence to all staff on campus, allowing them to focus on providing the best care possible for patients and continuing in the professional tasks they do best.