New Zealand's Seven Sharp on TVNZ talks about Tactical Solutions' COVID 19 Thermal technology
Published:
September 7 2021 | Tactical Solutions
Our director, Rob Hodge was on TVNZ‘s Seven Sharp last night explaining how the CEIA S.p.A. Covid Thermal Detection Unit (TDU) works.
Since the Corona Virus started we have had teams within Tactical invested in finding technology that is capable of effectively detecting the virus.
We went through a lot of different COVID-19 technologies from different suppliers and have had a lot of feedback from different Governmental and end-user agencies across the globe on what requirements would make the best COVID 19 detection equipment.
One of the symptoms of the COVID virus is an increase in body temperature and utilising Thermal Imaging to detect the temperature is, at the moment, the most effective way to combating the spread of the pandemic.
7 Lessons that we learned from searching for Thermal COVID detector solutions
- Detect at high speed.
Social distancing is one of the containment methods of managing the spread of the virus. We found that a lot of the thermal imaging technology out there was cumbersome and slow and caused long queues to form. This increases the risk of transmission. - Scan from a distance.
A majority of the Covid detection solutions had to have a close-up inspection of the person being scanned. These solutions are not able to adhere to social distancing regulation requirements. - Be simple and autonomous.
Equipment should not require an extra person to monitor or operate the system. Manual detection will increase waiting times and the chance of operator error can be increased. More operators at a checkpoint increase the risk of the virus spreading. - Automatic calibration.
Ambient temperatures change and equipment needs to be calibrated to the environment. A lot of the thermal equipment out there has to be collaborated by hand. Some of the Covid detection technology that we looked at had to be calibrated every 15 minutes. This caused long delays and caused a backlog of people being scanned. - Focused detection area.
The majority of the thermal detectors on offer would focus on the change in environmental temperature and take the reading change from the entire area. If someone was holding a hot beverage, for example, the detectors would alarm as a positive. Areas that had been exposed to heat such as windows or walls would cause false alarms. These would lead to secondary verifications checks that increase the risk of the virus spreading. - Minimum amount of false alarms.
Once a person has been identified as having a high temperature there needs to be some form of verification with secondary checks. With some of the systems that we looked at there were a high rate of nuisance alarms that would increase the rate of secondary checks needed. This increased the risk of transmission. - Non-invasive technology.
New technology being introduced into a mainstream environment can cause anxiety amoungst some of the community.
The solution
We turned to our partner Ceia for a solution.
Ceia is a company that that specialises in electromagnetic inspection systems such as security detection, industrial metal detectors, ground search detection, healthcare detection, and anticollisions telemeters.
- Detect at high speed.
Within a few seconds you can see the exact temperature of a person walking through the gate. - Scan from a distance.
Operators do not need to be close to the unit to operate it and can adhere to social distancing policies. - Simple and autonomous.
The unit is integrated into the checkpoint system and does need additional operators for it to work. The internal computer will sound an alarm if the temperature goes over 38 degrees and no manual input is needed. - Automatic calibration.
Every hour the unit calibrates to its surroundings. Keeping reading accurate, even if there is a drastic change in ambient temperature. - Focused detection area
The system maps out the user’s face and only uses that area for detection. This greatly reduces false alarms and allows the unit to be placed in heat-sensitive areas where other thermal detection units were not able to operate effectively. - Minimum amount of false alarms.
The system is extremely accurate and has very few false alarms. - Non-invasive technology.
The Ceia TDU uses non-invasive technology.
We have accredited Ceia-certified technicians here in New Zealand that enables us to be extremely agile when it comes to installing these systems as well as offering you on-the-ground through-life support.
If you would like more information on the TDU please contact us HERE or visit our Anti Covid Security Solution HERE