Pharmacies & Medical Facilities Are At High Risk

August 24th, 2023

Many people are more concerned about their health than ever before. It's no mystery why, as the COVID-19 pandemic is a genuine threat, being a virus that no one is immune to. The pandemic concerns are so large that work from home guidance has been growing in popularity for greater health and safety.

This has also meant that many are also concerned about proper medication. While the world waits for a vaccine, other ailments require access to antibiotics, medications, and even painkillers to manage recovery after treatment from some intensive measures such as surgery. Because of the importance of medication, some facilities are at a high risk of theft, which needs to be addressed with effective, specific security.

Medication Is Important In More Ways Than One

The usefulness of medication is, of course, well known and highly valued. Without medication, people would suffer in discomfort over unavoidable, chronic pains, or even suffer and possibly even die from lifelong illnesses such as diabetes. When people are sick, antibiotics often make it possible to have a safe and quick recovery.

Because of this, pharmacies, clinics, hospitals, and other medical facilities take extra precautions when it comes to storing medications. Pragmatically, this is because some medicines may only remain effective if they are stored at a certain level of humidity and temperature. But the other reason is medication also has a monetary value. Unfortunately, it can be highly desirable items for theft to sell on the black market.

Threats From Within & Without

The significant risks that come to medication are that theft can happen from the outside and the inside. Robbery of pharmacies, for example, can occur when thieves are interested in prescription opioids, either for personal use or resale on the black market.

Unfortunately, even in hospitals, which may ordinarily repel outside thieves, some staff can sometimes see their easy access to medications as a secondary, illegal income, helping themselves to opioids and other medicines for sale. The real tragedy is that often, internal theft can sometimes be easier and more lucrative than a conventional robbery.

Secure The Medication Properly

Fortunately, many security measures can be taken to prevent theft. Conventional security mechanisms, such as alarms and surveillance cameras, are an effective deterrence for thieves considering a break-in. Alarms reduce the amount of time thieves have for looting, while surveillance cameras capture important suspects' characteristics.

On the other end of the spectrum, digital access control systems can be applied both to rooms and medication storage cabinets. This ensures that every time a door is accessed, a timestamp of when the door was opened is preserved. More importantly, whether it's a keycard, PIN code, or biometric, the person using that card, code, or biometric is also recorded. It can get even more specific, recording data of what was taken.

If you’d like more secure medical facilities here, contact us. We can help find the right security and access control systems to protect valuable medication from all threats.