The Evolving Needs Of Security During A Pandemic

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Covid-19 vaccine drive thru sign, covid virus on computer screen, allied universal security officer wearing mask

Looking back to February 2020, remember when everything was “normal.”  We had just finished watching the nation’s largest professional football games of the year, students were looking to wrap up the school year and prepare for graduation, and everyone was planning their summer vacations.  Meanwhile, across the globe, there was news about an unknown virus and its potential spread worldwide.  Over the last year, our world has seen multiple changes, challenges, and experienced loss and emotions that were unfathomable.  

Many of us probably remember where we were at and what we were doing when the news hit. Within a matter of months, we were preparing for the unknown as the virus was rapidly spreading worldwide.   

The healthcare industry faced an immediate change in its operations as well.  Hospitals, in the beginning, only saw a slight increase in patients.  Before you knew it, emergency rooms, patient waiting rooms, and those infected with the virus were overloading hospitals nationwide.  The patient flow was unpredictable, new regulations were being implemented daily, elective surgeries were canceled, and staffing shortages were a new struggle.  Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) was hard to come by as nurses, doctors, and medical professionals were taking every precaution they could to protect themselves.  The priority of security and safety for patients and staff increased as the uptick of incidents and violence due to overcrowding, stress, anxiety, and fear. 

The security industry overall felt the impacts of the pandemic and we continue to grow and evolve together with our clients. 

As the daily changes of COVID-19 unfolded and impacted nearly every industry across our nation, Allied Universal changed too.  We took great measures to ensure we could evolve with our clients, every step of the way.  We discovered new and innovative ways to adapt and work with our clients and face the challenges they too were facing.  We created “just-in-time” training for rapid deployment, provided on-site evaluations, assessments, back to work strategies, utilized our Subject Matter Experts, held round-table discussions to collaborate and brought in technology solutions to help our clients.

During our recent webinar, “Evolving Needs of Security During a Pandemic” we were privileged to host a team of experts who shared a variety of information on how we have worked with our clients to help them cater to their needs, concerns, and share some great examples of solutions we provided.  

  • Our Allied Universal Technology Services division helped clients leverage the right combination of trained security professionals, data, and cutting-edge technology to deploy a smarter and more effective security program.  Click here to watch our Vice President of Strategic Solutions, Richard Mullen, discuss a few examples and offer some great solutions on how he helped out clients over the past year.  
  • In addition, Cindy Blevins, Senior Director of Operations with our Risk Advisory and Consulting Services division share how she and her team played an integral role in helping our clients navigate and provide a comprehensive view of risk and mitigation solutions that augment physical and operational security programs, contain costs all while providing services for some of the first and largest COVID-19 vaccination sites in the country.  Allied Universal provided access control in and out of the site to help maintain calm and order.  In addition, we provided an additional level of service, our Off-Duty Officer Special Operations.  Click here to watch how our services were instrumental during these uncertain times.

Our relationships with our employees and clients are at the heart of everything that we do.  We structure ourselves to support our local operations to ensure resources and solutions are focused where they are needed for our customers and security professionals around the nation.  Our vast reach allows us to be always connected, aware, and always ready to act.

For a more in-depth look at the COVID-19 evolution and different examples of how we assisted various customers click here to view the webinar on-demand.  If you have any additional questions about any of our services or the webinar, please contact us.  

 

About the author: Leigh Green has over 17 years of experience in the Healthcare Industry. She has various industry designations including North Carolina IAHSS Vice-Chair, Certified ALICE Instructor, Certified Brain Injury Specialist, Certified Dementia Practitioner and Licensed Assisted Living Administrator.

Leigh is passionate about assisting Hospitals and Healthcare Systems develop and implement security programs to include hybrid or full contract security within compliance guidelines.

 

 

For more information or to answer any question you have, please contact

Leigh Green

Regional Healthcare Director, Mid-Atlantic Region

Leigh.Green@aus.com