A case study of how an ambulance service in the United States has gone about its key management.
Given the wide area Bell Ambulance serves, from Milwaukee, vehicles often return to a different station from where they were dispatched – making the tracking and managing of keys a major challenge.
Another main issue for Bell Ambulance was accountability. Video surveillance and access control systems are installed at each of its stations, but some are in high-crime areas of Milwaukee. So while the company had deployed security measures externally, anyone who managed to breach that security could have access to keys, which were stored on hooks out in the open. Another concern was the fact that ambulance drivers based at these stations were always out on the road, leaving stations unoccupied most of the time. This further underscored the need for a way to distribute keys securely without having a person responsible for that task.
Cost of lost keys had also become an issue. Whereas replacing a key may have been relatively inexpensive, the secure key fobs used with newer ignitions are much more costly, around $300 each. When a key goes missing the ambulance’s ignition must also be reprogrammed to prevent someone from starting and potentially stealing the vehicle. These costs can add up.
Hence the company sought a better way for securing keys. As Bell Ambulance worked with Hoffman Security Solutions to compare products from a number of manufacturers, it seemed to the ambulance firm that the perfect solution hadn’t yet been invented. Nick Hoffman, co-owner of Hoffman Security Solutions, knew that Morse Watchmans was developing a new product.
Hoffman said: “Their biggest hurdle was finding a system that would be flexible and scalable for the capacity of their fleet across all of their stations throughout Milwaukee, but while some of the products we looked at were close, none were quite right. KeyWatcher Touch, which was in the first stage of beta testing at the time, opened the door to make this application feasible and provide exactly what they were looking for.”
Keys were rotating constantly throughout Bell’s system from location to location. Because the KeyAnywhere feature of KeyWatcher Touch addressed this, Hoffman knew he’d found what Bell Ambulance needed. Bell ended up being one of the earliest adopters of KeyWatcher Touch.
Jason Becker, Senior Systems Administrator for Bell Ambulance, said: “We were willing to be the first to implement KeyWatcher Touch when it came out and it’s worked out very well. We’ve had the system for about five years and as we’ve outgrown the initial system size, we’ve been able to add stations very easily.”
Bell Ambulance has nine KeyWatcher Touch stations installed, three bought in the last 12 months. Becker said: “We really like the KeyAnywhere feature and the automatic reporting and transaction gathering functions. Not having to go out to each of the nine locations to collect reports and other information is a major benefit.”
Two of these latest cabinets have the new second-generation CPU, which will be slowly phased into the remaining seven cabinets . Hoffman recommended the upgrade based on the growing size of Bell’s systems, particularly in its busy maintenance department. With all of the company’s ambulances going in and out of the shop for repairs, oil changes, new tires and other services in a relatively short time, the volume and speed of transactions was going beyond the capabilities of KeyWatcher Touch’s first-generation processor.
“Now the system is lightning fast – about four or five times faster than before,” he said.
Because the KeyWatcher Touch system is networked and sends data in real time, Bell has been able to integrate it with other networked systems. Networking systems also helps Bell Ambulance monitor the safe driving profile of their drivers. As each driver checks in and out, they place a road safety fob into a reader in the ambulance, which logs driving habits. The fobs are stored in the KeyWatcher cabinets with keys, and the system is programmed to prevent a driver from clocking out until both are returned.
Becker said: “When they go to check out, KeyWatcher Touch pulls up the key use report and will let the employee know that they need to return the key or safety fob to the cabinet. By making sure keys and fobs remain on the premises, KeyWatcher Touch has had a huge impact on reducing and even eliminating the problems and high costs we were having with lost keys.”
About the firm
Based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Bell Ambulance Company has been in operation since 1977. The company responds to around 75,000 calls per year and provides life support, critical care paramedics, and long-distance transport.
To accommodate its fleet of ambulances, the company operates nine remote stations throughout the greater Milwaukee area. Ambulances come and go 24/7, responding to calls around the city.
