You could mistake it for a smoke detector: the new anonymous mobility sensor at Caritas Hospital St. Josef. Mounted inconspicuously on the ceiling, the high-tech device will be used for patients at risk of falling. The hospital is the first in Germany to rely on the digital early warning system from Switzerland.
People with dementia have a significantly increased risk of falling. This applies not only to their own four walls, but especially to the unfamiliar hospital environment. “Up to now, we have solved this with alarm step mats that lie in front of the beds and send out a warning message as soon as a patient steps on them. But once the patient got up, it was often too late,” says Andreas Riepl, head of nursing, responsible for the project. The situation is similar for elderly patients, who often also have an increased risk of falling and, if necessary, are weakened and more susceptible to falls due to illness.
The clinic now has a solution for this: the digital early warning system from QUMEA. A small sensor on the ceiling uses state-of-the-art 3D radar technology to detect the finest human movements in the room. Using artificial intelligence, the data is processed – if the system detects that patients are trying to get up, nursing staff are alerted immediately. “This gives us time to react,” Andreas Riepl explains. “This significantly increases safety for people with dementia or patients at risk of falling, and at the same time relieves our nursing staff.”
At St. Josef, the system will initially be used on the geriatric trauma ward – other wards could follow.
