GGZ-NML Hospital Deploys Ekahau RTLS for Staff Safety in Psychiatric Care Unit


SARATOGA, California, May 19 /PRNewswire/ --

- As First to Deploy Ekahau in Netherlands, GGZ-NML Showcases Wi-Fi-Based
Location Tracking Application to More than 50 Dutch Healthcare Organizations

Ekahau Inc., a leading provider of Wi-Fi-based Real Time
Location Systems (RTLS), today announced that GGZ-NML, a hospital in Venray,
The Netherlands, is the first healthcare organization in that country to use
Ekahau RTLS to ensure the safety of its employees in the psychiatric care
unit. The hospital also recently demonstrated its cutting-edge Ekahau
application to more than 50 other Dutch healthcare organizations, showcasing
how real-time location tracking can assist in rapidly and accurately finding
employees who may be in dangerous situations.

"With unpredictable psychiatric patients under our care, our
staff often finds themselves in a position where their personal safety can be
compromised," said Erik Stijnen, project manager for ICT at GGZ-NML. "As we
were renovating our facility, we realized that we needed a safety application
that could easily integrate with our new wireless IP infrastructure. We
tested several real-time location tracking applications, but only Ekahau met
our demands for accuracy and rapid positioning."

To support GGZ-NML's staff safety requirements, systems
integrator Zetacom deployed Ekahau RTLS, the only Wi-Fi-based location
tracking solution that can operate over any brand or generation of Wi-Fi
network. Hospital employees wear Ekahau's advanced Wi-Fi tags, which feature
a panic button that can be pressed when they feel they are at risk. Through
an application designed by Zetacom, the alarms are sent to Wi-Fi telephone
handsets used by GGZ-NML's security department. Once notified of an alarm,
the security staff can accurately determine the exact location of that
employee and track their movement in real-time, so they can quickly react to
the situation. Ekahau's tags are unique in that they also feature two-way
communications, enabling employees to acknowledge that their emergency call
was received.

Unlike other RTLS systems, Ekahau tags operate simply as any
other standard Wi-Fi network-connected device. As a result, Ekahau RTLS does
not interfere with existing Wi-Fi connectivity, including voice telephony,
data, messaging and wireless care applications that GGZ-NML is utilizing.

"Ekahau's ability to deliver solutions that integrate
seamlessly with any enterprise-class Wi-Fi network is the reason why 150
hospitals worldwide now rely on our products," said Antti Korhonen, president
and CEO of Ekahau. "GGZ-NML's staff safety application underscores the
versatility of Ekahau RTLS in not only healthcare scenarios, but in any other
profession where employees may find themselves in risky situations."

About Ekahau Inc.

Ekahau Inc. is the industry leader in providing Wi-Fi-based
RTLS solutions. Ekahau's customers, including several Fortune 500 companies
worldwide, are realizing the benefits of Wi-Fi based location services and
innovative Wi-Fi network planning and optimization tools. Ekahau solutions
are being used in more than 150 hospitals around the world, as well as by
manufacturers, mining/oil/gas companies, government agencies and the
military. Ekahau partners include wireless software developers, leading
system integrators and international OEM partners, who develop and market
wireless enterprise applications. Ekahau is a U.S. based corporation, with
offices in Saratoga, Calif.; Reston, Va.; Helsinki, Finland; and Hong Kong,
China. For more information about Ekahau, please visit at
http://www.ekahau.com.

(c) Copyright 2008, Ekahau, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

© PR Newswire Association LLC.

Latest user comments

News archive

Subscribe to AfterDawn's weekly newsletter.