Texas Health System Deploys AI Gun Detection Technology

  • July 18, 2023

ZeroEyes and UMC Health System in Lubbock, Texas announced the deployment of ZeroEyes’ software to protect the facility’s patients, employees and visitors against gun-related violence.

With gun-related workplace violence rising in the US, hospitals face new security challenges. Healthcare workers, who served and sacrificed tremendously through the pandemic, now face an increased risk at work. Healthcare facilities must be accessible to visitors and new patients, but this open-door policy unavoidably increases the threat of violence. Invasive security measures like metal detectors may be helpful, but they create an unwelcoming, burdensome atmosphere. And, patients are often non-ambulatory and cannot run or hide from attackers when an incident occurs.

ZeroEyes' HIPAA-compliant visual gun detection and intelligent situational awareness software will be layered on UMC’s existing security systems. Identified gun images will instantly be shared with the ZeroEyes Operation Center (ZOC), staffed 24/7/365 by specially trained U.S. military and law enforcement veterans. These experts will verify the threat and dispatch alerts and actionable intelligence, including visual description, gun type and last known location, to local staff and UMC Police Force as fast as 3 to 5 seconds from detection.

“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.”

With close to 5,000 employees and 500 beds, UMC is the only Level I Trauma Center serving West Texas and Eastern New Mexico and is the primary teaching hospital of the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. ZeroEyes is the latest addition to UMC’s multi-layered security system, which also includes an inhouse police force, 100% armed security officers, scanners, strategically located panic buttons, and cameras throughout the 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.”

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