The Right Employee at the Right Time

You don’t have to use ZOLL and ZOLL Data products to learn something at the company’s annual Summit data-management conference. Obviously there’s benefit if you do; speakers there guide attendees through the company’s latest devices and capabilities, sharing advances and best practices. But even if you’re just interested in emerging EMS concepts like mobile integrated healthcare/community paramedicine and the HL7 data standard, there’s plenty to whet your intellect and take home to work on. Summit 2014, with a theme of “Advancing Care Through Data,” was held May 13–16 in Denver and boasted more than 120 sessions across eight tracks. This article summarizes some of that content, with a focus on data technology that can benefit systems of all stripes. Next year’s event will be held May 12–15. For more, see https://connect.zolldata.com/summit-registration. 

Joe’s running late for work. It’s not the first time, but it might be the last if he’s caught clocking in tardy again. He calls ahead to his buddy Steve, already at the station, and asks Steve to punch in on his behalf. Steve does, and Joe arrives on time officially, if not actually. 

That kind of thing has occurred in workplaces since work began, and while it’s not the worst thing an unethical EMS provider might do, it can come with costs and risks. Imagine that 15 minutes Joe just filched multiplied by 2–3 times a week, 52 weeks a year, times dozens or hundreds of employees. Those costs—paid for phantom labor that never occurred—will mount. Lingering low-tech systems might not even ensure it’s an employee punching in—it could be a stranger. People have been known to pose as EMS providers and steal their stuff.  

All of which is to underscore the issue of security in management of personnel and the shifts they work. To be sure, there are mechanisms more secure than the ancient time clock, but advancing technology is providing even better measures yet. 

Among the strongest is the biometric management option for ZOLL Data’s RescueNet Crew Scheduler, described at Summit 2014 by Michael Schuetz, a tier 2 technician in the company’s Support division. This lets users punch in and out with biometric scanners that can use not only fingerprints, but finger and palm veins to identify and register them. 

“There’s a real benefit to the security aspect of it,” says Schuetz. “It ensures the right person punches in for the right shift—you can’t be an imposter. In a punch-clock scenario, it’s plausible to show up at a station where no one’s ever seen you and say, ‘Yes, I’m Mike.’ In a bigger system, that could be a concern. In a smaller system not so much, but there’s still ‘buddy-punching’: My partner’s running late, I’ll punch him in so he doesn’t end up in front of a supervisor. This prevents that. You can’t fool biometrics.”

The system is Web-based and has three components: a scanner that plugs into a normal Windows work station; a biometric database residing on a Web server; and software on the client’s computer that communicates between the two. The technology comes through a partnership with Georgia-based M2SYS.

Employees use both hands during registration, and each finger or palm is scanned multiple times. Finger vein authentication works by passing near-infrared light through the finger. The light is partially absorbed by hemoglobin in the veins, producing an image captured on a CCD camera. Palm vein scanning uses the whole hand. In either case, vein patterns are unique to individuals and nearly impossible to duplicate. 

That’s true of fingerprints too, but fingerprints aren’t quite as foolproof. 

“There’s nothing wrong with fingerprint readers, but fingerprints can be subject to change through injury or affected by medical conditions,” notes Schuetz. “There are actually a few conditions where folks have little to no fingerprint profile. As well, different people have different fingerprint depths, and folks with shallow fingerprints can be hard for scanners to read.” 

The biometric/fingerprint management module, which debuted in 2013, can be easily added by current Crew Scheduler users. It can give them registration reports on active employees, raw data reports from the biometric database, and total bioscans by company and scan mode. 

“It’s a neat technology I’d have loved to have when I was in the industry,” says Schuetz. “It is a bit niche, because you have to be using Crew Scheduler and punching in and out. But we’ve even had customers tell us it would be great to see integrated with other products.”