Napa State Hospital, Napa, Calif, has recently begun using a location-based safety alert system from Ekahau Inc, Reston, Va. The system utilizes more than 2,000 wearable RFID badges working in conjunction with the hospital’s Cisco wireless LAN to provide exact locations of alerts.

The badges alert police and staff anywhere on the 138-acre campus, providing detailed information including location and type of ermegency.

An NSH employee in distress pulls down on his or her on break-away lanyard, connected to the RFID badge, and his or her location appears on security monitors, Web-based virtual floor plans, and on Ekahau badges worn by the police and other staff members who are closest to the emergency.

The real-time location awareness system also includes guest badges. Hospital police can proactively monitor guest entry into restricted zones and receive alerts via Ekahau’s geo-fencing capabilities.