NXDN Digital Conventional with NX-1000 Series Radios Ensures 24/7/365 System Security and Availability
Bon Secours Galway is a private hospital that provides care to over 6,000 inpatients and 12,000 day cases each year.
Bon Secours Hospital Galway is part of the Bon Secours Health System, Ireland's largest independent healthcare provider, which incorporates a network of five modern acute hospitals in Cork, Dublin, Galway, Limerick and Tralee. Situated just one mile from Galway city centre, the 120- bed private hospital provides the highest quality of care and service to the people of Galway and surrounding counties and meets with internationally recognised standards with ‘Accredited Hospital Status’, awarded by Joint Commission International (JCI).
The hospital has undergone significant development in recent years, with the expansion of the main hospital and the development of a new state-of-the-art Interventional Cardiology Suite.
Challenge
After providing over 20-years’ service, the hospital’s KENWOOD two-channel FM Analogue system was starting to show its age. The nine TK-3360, five TK-3180 hand-portable radios and TKR-851 repeater had served the hospital well, but with a requirement for more radios, increased site coverage of the hospital estate and protection against the growing threat of cyber-attacks on hospitals, the hospital’s management wanted to ensure that the new radiocommunications system could offer resilience and availability under all operational conditions including in emergency situations where GSM and IP services may be rendered inoperable.
Having established the hospital’s current and future requirements, Colin Connolly, the hospital’s Facilities Manager, called in Critico (previously BP Multipage), one of Ireland’s leading critical communications solutions providers, to discuss the options available.
Benefits
Hospitals today are increasingly dependent on electronically controlled medical devices, and one of the additional benefits KENWOOD NEXEDGE NXDN technology brings to hospital and healthcare settings over other digital formats stems from the Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) air interface method it employs. Data sent over FDMA is transmitted continuously rather than in bursts, so it generates lower noise ,which mitigates the effect of radio frequency interference on medical devices such as pacemakers, apnoea monitors, electrically powered beds/wheelchairs, etc. Alongside the other benefits of increased range, clarity, spectrum efficiency and lower infrastructure, this characteristic of FDMA has made NEXEDGE NXDN a widely adopted technology in radiocommunication systems used by hospitals around the world.
Final Words
Sean O’Neill of Critico (previously BP Multipage) comments: “The choice of KENWOOD equipment was virtually a foregone conclusion as the hospital was very impressed with the longevity and support available for the analogue system over a 20-year period.
The new systems had to be simple so that they could effectively operate ‘off-grid and off-line’ should it be necessary, but without compromising on features, flexibility and performance. One of the great benefits of the NX-1000 Series radios is the multi-protocol flexibility it offers which allowed us, during the field trials, to very easily switch the DMR mode NX-1300 DE2 hand portables to NXDN operation, effectively converting them to NX-1300 NE2 specification – this key feature allows us to quickly adapt and tailor a radio system both around a customers’ needs as well as site conditions to optimise performance.
Thanks to our engineers, the transition from the old analogue system to full digital operation, including programming the radios, installing the equipment, and commissioning the system, was seamless.
The new NEXEDGE NXDN system has greatly improved the efficiency and effectiveness of the hospital’s radiocommunication capability, and with the reassurance of UPS and a Maintenance Contract with us, the radio users at Bon Secours Hospital, Galway can be sure of the availability of radiocommunications whenever it is needed”.
