Hands-free fever detection system protects key workers at University Hospital Llandough

It has become increasingly important to control the spread of the Coronavirus through monitoring key symptoms such as a fever. To reduce the risk to the key workers and patients of University Hospital Llandough, Oprema – the Cardiff-based multi-brand distributor of security equipment – and partner Dahua Technology (the video surveillance specialist) have donated a thermal imaging solution which can automatically detect a person’s temperature in less than a second without the need for personal contact, thereby providing the hospital with an accurate primary screening solution.

The process currently used by many hospitals involves front line key workers using a handheld infrared thermometer to measure peoples’ temperatures as they enter a given facility. For this to work, the individual conducting the temperature monitoring has to be very close to the potentially infected person, increasing the risk of the virus being transmitted. These manual checks are also very time-consuming in an environment where no-one wants to wait longer than is absolutely necessary.

The Dahua Thermal Solution has an accuracy of ±0.3℃ and removes the need for handheld thermometers, in turn reducing the risk to staff and speeding up the patient entry process.

By combining the latest CCTV and thermal temperature measurement technology, the donated solution – which is worth circa £15,000 – is capable of automatically detecting if a person has a higher-than-normal body temperature and can screen individuals or larger groups simultaneously. By way of comparison, using a handheld forehead thermometer to measure the temperatures of 5,000 people would take over four hours*. With the Dahua Thermal Solution – which is capable of measuring three people per second – measuring the temperatures of 5,000 people takes just 30 minutes.

Indication by alarm

The donated solution has been installed in the Trauma and Orthopaedics Department at University Hospital Llandough. Should someone enter the space with a high temperature, an alarm sounds as an indication that they are potentially carrying a virus and should be checked by a medical professional.

Chris Wilson, consultant orthopaedic surgeon within the Trauma and Orthopaedics Department at University Hospital Llandough, commented: “We need to keep our clinic going during the current crisis, both at the present time for trauma patients and also later on for those patients suffering with pain and disability waiting for urgent assessment. The donated thermal solution will be a huge help to our team in screening patients quickly and effectively without putting those doing the measuring at any unnecessary risk of infection themselves. We would like to thank Oprema and Dahua for donating this great solution. It’s really helpful in this current climate and very much appreciated by our team.”

Matthew Epps, managing director at Oprema, added: “Being our local hospital, we wanted to donate the Dahua Thermal Solution to University Hospital Llandough to help in the fight against COVID-19, reducing the risk to our community’s front line keyworkers and freeing up time for them to perform other critical functions. The same solution has been implemented in other environments requiring the screening of a high volume of people since the beginning of the pandemic, among them airports and NHS Nightingale Hospitals. We’re really pleased to be doing our bit locally by donating one of these systems to University Hospital Llandough.”

Installation of this rapidly deployable solution requires very little disruption to general operations. In fact, this solution can be up-and-running in as little as 24 hours from the point of order.

For further information visit https://www.oprema.co.uk/

*Based on screening one person every three seconds