Napa State Hospital has declared its intent to commission lanyard invention of Psychiatric Technician to carry the new personal alarm sensors at the facility.
The new lanyard, an innovation of Psych Tech and CAPT Napa Chapter Secretary Mike Jarschke, has been designed with supplementary features that enable persons to reliably and conveniently wear their alarm sensors on their necks. This convenience issue was a major concern during the launch of forensic facility’s new wireless alarm system. By next week, staff can have access to the new lanyards.
Napa State Hospital employees are awaiting for the new alarm system, which commenced activation on August 14. The hospital staff has unveiled the competence of sensor lanyards in providing safety hazards while treating patients with strange or aggressive behaviors. Department of State Hospital reviewers have carefully validated Jarschke's modified lanyards.
The staff at Napa State Hospital workers can now wear the sensors on waist metal-clip carabiners. This option will favor those who found the earlier neck lanyards to be inconvenient. Union activists and some employees have put in efforts to prove that carabiners and Jarschke's new lanyards can be recognized as the official methods of wearing the alarm sensors in a protected manner.
Napa’s new alarm system is the first new system to be installed at California state hospitals after the murder of Napa State Hospital Psychiatric Technician Donna Gross on October 23, 2010. Gross was murdered by a patient on NSH grounds in an outdoor premise where the antiquated alarm failed to work. The alarm system of Napa and the carrying accessories of the sensors will be a model for the four other state hospitals, which will further underline the requirement to address any concerns.