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Ask the Expert: continuous loop recording of pediatric rooms

Accreditation Connection, August 15, 2005

There are no nationally recognized regulations or standards that identify specific components of an infant, pediatric, or other security monitoring system, either at the patient room or patient unit level, says Steven MacArthur, safety consultant for The Greeley Company, a division of HCPro.

There are few hardware-related regulations, and most of the ones that do exist are concerned with fire protection systems, not security, MacArthur says. Instead, regulators expect you to develop risk management strategies based on your assessment of the risks found within your organization. That said, even if there was a regulation or standard regarding video or other surveillance, it is unlikely that loop recording of the area in question would be mandatory, MacArthur adds.

At least with traditional loop recording, the video image is likely to undergo significant degradation over time due to continuous reuse. This action would eventually render the strategy behind the loop recording useless unless someone very diligently changes the tape on a frequent basis, says MacArthur.

If you choose to record pediatric rooms, MacArthur recommends considering the digital format. It provides you with a much higher quality image and doesn't have the same tendency to "fade" over time.

Adapted from the August issue of Briefings on Hospital Safety.

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