QEH installs AI scanner after 2-week pilot project finds more than 30 different weapons

An AI-equipped weapons scanner is now permanently installed at the entrance to the emergency department at Charlottetown’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital after a short pilot project confirmed potentially dangerous weapons are entering the ER.

Mike MacDonald, director of nursing at the QEH, said staff intercepted more than 30 weapons at the hospital’s emergency department during a two-week trial last year.

“Some of those things were items that were sort of everyday items for certain people, like a pocket knife, exacto knives,” he said. “There were other things, other knives that people shouldn’t be having on them.”

MacDonald said the new system cost about $50,000 to install, in addition to ongoing maintenance costs.

WATCH | New scanners at Charlottetown’s QEH will use AI to detect whether visitors are bringing in weapons:

New scanners at Charlottetown’s QEH will use AI to detect whether visitors are bringing in weapons

Prince Edward Island’s biggest hospital has started a trial run of new full-body scanners at its emergency department. The machines are checking Queen Elizabeth Hospital visitors for weapons. Staff told CBC’s Cody MacKay that safety for everyone is the top priority.

He said the scanner is one tool in a broader effort to reduce risk in what can already be a highly charged environment.

“There’s a lot of things happening. Some people are there probably on one of the worst days of their lives,” he said.

“We know that wait times are long, and so there’s a level of frustration that people have.”

He said other security measures in place include cameras throughout the department, swipe-card access to restrict movement into certain areas, de-escalation training for staff and enhanced security staffing and training.

The new scanner is necessary, especially given the level of workplace violence faced by P.E.I. health-care workers, said Prince Edward Island Nurses’ Union president Kim Sears.

A survey conducted by the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions last summer found that 88 per cent of nurses surveyed on P.E.I. said they had experienced workplace violence in the previous year. Of those, 36 per cent said they had experienced five or more incidents during that time.

Sears noted that some people may carry weapons for protection, including members of the unhoused population.

“Some of those people would have knives and stuff because they feel in the community that they need it to protect themselves. But those things need to be — when you’re in the health-care facility — taken from them at the time and given back,” she said.

“So those weapon detectors would be paramount.”

Sears said similar security measures should be implemented across the Island’s health-care system, not just at the QEH.

MacDonald agrees. He said the weapons scanner will likely be installed at other hospitals as well.

“We know that these incidents don’t just occur in the largest facility. They can occur anywhere, at any time,” he said.

How it works

MacDonald said the emergency department entrance was originally designed more than 16 years ago with metal detection in mind, so installing the scanner now was not particularly difficult.

The system consists of two towers placed far enough apart to allow easy passage, including for people using mobility aids.

The AI-equipped scanner is designed to distinguish between harmless metal items, such as keys, and potentially dangerous ones like knives or firearms. MacDonald said the system learns patterns over time and allows staff to adjust sensitivity levels.

For people who, for religious or personal reasons, cannot or do not wish to pass through the scanner, MacDonald said staff will not deny them access.

“We would certainly have a conversation with those folks.… We’re here to provide health care, and that’s our first priority, and so we have to have secondary screening when issues come up,” he said. 

“We’re trusting with the public that we’re working with them to identify these items and whether we need to have them stored or whether we need to monitor patients closely, but there’s a whole secondary screening that we can do. So we’re not limiting access to anybody.”

Any confiscated items are documented, tagged to a specific individual, securely stored and then returned as appropriate when that person is discharged from the ER or hospital.

Although the pilot project last year produced quick results, it took about a year to move from testing to a permanent installation. MacDonald said the process of purchasing the permanent unit included multiple steps like procurement, training requirements and leadership approval.