The Door Switch An Anti-Ligature Device

The door switch is an over the door sensor that helps in alerting behavioral healthcare staff when an inpatient attempts self harm.  A top of the door safety alarm that notifies attending nurses when there is an inpatient hanging suicide attempt.  Due to the rising trend of inpatient suicide, behavioral health facilities are being urged to protect their doors.

The following information was shared in the April issue of The Official Newsletter of The Door Switch to assist you in the process of equipping your facility with The Door Switch.

Be sure to follow this link to The Door Switch website for additional information.

If you are interested in a Door Switch system for your facility but do not know how to begin the process, the first step is to call us at The Door Switch and describe your requirements. We are very proud of our system and look forward to answering your questions and offering information about it. We will email you a quantity of electronic documents that we provide to persons interested in our product. Those documents include our complete product book, architectural specifications, and a summary of the features of our system that set it apart from our competition. If after learning about The Door Switch, you believe that our system might be a solution to ligature risks at your facility, we will discuss with you in an in-person visit to your facility through which we can demonstrate our system and fully explain its features.

In determining which of your facility’s doors should receive Door Switch coverage, we recommend that you consider covering doors to which patients have unsupervised access. For most facilities, such doors consist of patient room and bathroom doors. In hospitals where patients undergo long-term treatment and may have unsupervised access to day rooms and laundry facilities, such doors should also be considered for coverage. Through a process of identifying specific requirements for your facility, we will assist you in determining which doors require coverage.

We are the manufacturer and seller of Door Switches. As such, we do not install systems. Installations are typically performed through the coordinated efforts of door hardware installers and security integrators. A door hardware company normally installs Door Switch materials on covered doors. Security integrators install electronic components and program the system’s control panel. However, for some installations, security integrators perform all aspects of the installation process. They occasionally perform this dual role because many security integrators with broad experience in access control possess the tools and skills required to install Door Switch door hardware.

If you determine that you would like an estimate for a Door Switch system for your facility, we will work with you to determine how involved you wish to be in the process of identifying and selecting installers. Some facility administrators prefer to use installers who regularly perform work at their hospitals. Others prefer to be more “hands-off” and opt for complete turnkey projects. In those instances, we can identify and fully vet for you any and all required material installers.

Once we have identified and/or agreed upon an installer or installers for your project, we will provide a quote for your project’s materials to a distributor. In most cases, that distributor will be an installer on your project. However, there are other projects in which one of our national distributor partners will be called upon to step in and conduct the transaction. If you choose to purchase a system, you will contract for the materials and installations with the appropriate parties, and we will initiate the manufacturing and purchasing of your materials.

The materials that make up a Door Switch system include Door Switches; continuous hinges or door pivots, strobes, key switches, audible alarms, and a supporting system of HoneywellTM and AltronixTM electronic components. Components by both of those manufacturers are considered to be the standards in their industry. The security integrator will provide additional, ancillary materials including electrical boxes, appropriate low-voltage wiring, and lock cylinders and cores for the key switches.

The key point that we wish to make through the explanation of this process is that designing and purchasing a Door Switch system need not be a task approached with trepidation. We will work to simplify the process for you and perform as many (or as few) of the required tasks as you prefer.

Please look for Part 2 of this article in the May edition of The Official Newsletter of The Door Switch. In the second part of the article, we will describe the processes of material delivery, installation, and system programming.