UMC Health System deploys ZeroEyes to deter and mitigate gun-related violence

PHILADELPHIA – ZeroEyes have announced that they’ve deployed their AI-based gun detection video analytics platform with UMC Health System to protect facility patients, employees, and visitors against gun-related violence.

Gun-related workplace violence is on the rise in the United States where studies from the U.S. Government Accountability Office and the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that violence against healthcare workers is 12 times higher than in the overall workforce, and that healthcare workers accounted for 73 percent of all nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses due to violence in 2018.

As healthcare facilities must be accessible to visitors and new patients by their nature, an open-door policy creates unavoidable risk, and security measures like metal detectors may be too cumbersome and unwelcoming, especially for patients who may be non-ambulatory ZeroEyes said. Instead, with this deployment ZeroEyes will be layered on top of UMC’s existing security system, sharing identified gun images with its team of experts in their ZeroEyes Operation Center (ZOC), which are staffed 24/7/365.

“UMC is the first hospital in the region to employ AI-based gun detection security measures,” said Mark Funderburk, Chief Executive Officer, UMC Health System. “Our goal is solid – to ensure our healthcare team and patients feel safe and are safe. Toward that end, we are very impressed by the quality and speed of ZeroEyes’ response to threats. We have invested in the most innovative and state-of-the-art technology available today, while maintaining a welcoming, non-hostile environment.”

UMC Health System is the only Level 1 Trauma Center serving West Texas and Eastern New Mexico and serves as the primary teaching hospital of the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. At nearly 5000 employees and 500 beds, ZeroEyes’ deployment adds to the hospitals existing in-house police, 100%-armed security guards, scanners, and strategically placed panic buttons and cameras located throughout its campus.

“We naturally think of hospitals as places of healing, so it is upsetting to acknowledge that they can also be the settings of gun-related tragedies,” said Mike Lahiff, CEO, and co-founder of ZeroEyes. “UMC is one of the nation’s most forward-thinking healthcare systems, with an obvious determination to protect its staff, patients, and their community against senseless violence. We are extremely proud that UMC has stepped forward, choosing ZeroEyes as its gun detection and intelligent situational awareness partner.”

This is only the latest deployment for ZeroEyes who were utilized by the Valley Baptist Church just last week. For more information about the ZeroEyes platform please visit zeroeyes.com.