Brookings Health Deploys Infrared Temperature Check Tablets at Facility Entrances

  • November 18, 2020
Rehab Director Gavin Weber tests one of the new infrared temperature check tablets setup at Brookings Hospital’s southeast entrance. The tablets detect heat signatures from a human face. The tablets will turn red and sound an alarm if a person entering the facility has a high temperature or is not wearing a face covering. By using the temperature check tablets, that health system is able to staff fewer employees for safety screening at the entrances.
Rehab Director Gavin Weber tests one of the new infrared temperature check tablets setup at Brookings Hospital’s southeast entrance. The tablets detect heat signatures from a human face. The tablets will turn red and sound an alarm if a person entering the facility has a high temperature or is not wearing a face covering. By using the temperature check tablets, that health system is able to staff fewer employees for safety screening at the entrances.

To assist with safety screening during the COVID-19 pandemic, Brookings Health System recently deployed infrared temperature check tablets at the main entrances for Brookings Hospital and The Neighborhoods at Brookview nursing home.

“The temperature check tablets allow us to staff fewer employees at the entrances and yet successfully screen patients for symptoms of COVID-19 according to CDC guidelines,” said Rehab Director Gavin Weber who has led Brookings Health’s mandatory screening efforts throughout the pandemic. “Using a stoplight method with an audible alert, the tablets immediately notify our entrance staff if a patient is safe to enter the facility.”

Using an advanced algorithm, the tablets detect and calculate heat signatures from a human face. If a person entering the facility has a high temperature or is not wearing a face covering, the tablet indicators will turn red and an alarm will sound. The tablet indicators will turn green for persons wearing a face covering and whose temperature is in an acceptable range.

All individuals entering Brookings Health System’s facilities, including team members, are screened for COVID-19 symptoms. The health system also asks all individuals to wear a face covering, to maintain six-foot social distances and to follow all infection control guidelines, including proper hand hygiene.

More information about Brookings Health System’s response to COVID-19 and efforts to ensure safety can be found online at brookingshealth.org/COVID.

About Brookings Health System

Brookings Health System, located in Brookings, South Dakota, includes a 49-bed hospital, the 79-bed The Neighborhoods at Brookview nursing home, Brookhaven Estates senior living apartments, Yorkshire Eye Clinic & Optical, and medical clinics in Arlington, White and Volga, South Dakota. It is a non-profit, city-owned facility that offers the community a full range of inpatient, outpatient, emergency and extended care services. Brookings Hospital provides local access to doctors in Brookings and offers robotic da Vinci surgery and Mako robotic-arm assisted procedures, making it one of the premier rural community hospitals in South Dakota. For more information about the services offered at Brookings Health System, please call (605) 696-9000 or visit us on the Web at brookingshealth.org.