The Netherlands’ largest Medical Center relies on Barco Control Rooms solutions to keep patient flows efficient and safe

Barco solutions: 

- Workflow | Barco OpSpace
- Video Wall | OverView KVD5521B
- Media Platform | TransForm NDN-210
 
Key benefits: 

• Complete overview of hospital operations
• Ergonomic and efficient operator workspace
• Personalized preset perspectives & layouts for different team shifts 

Erasmus University Medical Center (Erasmus MC), based in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, is the largest and one of the most authoritative scientific University Medical Centers in Europe. It is also the largest of the eight university medical centers in the Netherlands, in terms of turnover and number of beds. 

To guarantee safe and efficient streams of in- and outgoing patients, visitors, and hospital personnel, Erasmus MC makes use of a centralized control room where people trajectories and access control in and around the hospital are monitored. The control room is also the central location where all emergency notifications and alerts come in, either patient-related or coming from the police, fire department, helicopter ambulance, or other emergency services. 

Ergonomic control room 

In 2018, it became clear that an upgrade of the existing control room was needed. The room no longer met contemporary technology standards, nor did it offer the control room personnel an ergonomic workspace that allowed them to be efficient and productive. 

“The size and shape of the previous control center did not allow for the installation of a video wall in the true sense of the word,” says Roy Wardenaar, operator at the Erasmus MC control room. “Operators were sitting back to back, and we had to constantly turn our heads to look at screens surrounding us in a curved shape. It was highly uncomfortable.” 

When Dutch audio-visual specialist and system integrator INTER was asked to install and furbish a new control room, the company took the Erasmus MC team to a local traffic control center equipped with Barco’s OpSpace operator workspace solution. The visit inspired the control room team, which realized that this solution would perfectly meet the needs of the Erasmus MC center operators as well. 

Complete overview of hospital operations

The new control room now has a Barco video wall, consisting of OverView KVD5521B LCD panels, and driven by Barco’s media platform TransForm NDN-210 graphics processors. The control room also has three OpSpace operator workspaces, of which two are used for regular monitoring activities, and one is used as a backup, or, in case of larger calamities that require an extra operator. From there, hospital operations and patient flows are managed 24/7, in different shifts of two operators. 

The video wall and workspaces give operators a complete overview, as well as the flexibility to monitor their operations just the way they want. “The difference with the previous control room is huge,” says Roy. “The Barco OpSpace workspace allows us to arrange the sources we need to monitor in a way that is most convenient for our task and most ergonomic for our team of operators.”

“Erasmus MC was looking for an umbrella system, in which they could manage video surveillance and other control applications,” says Thijs Assink, Account Manager Medical/ Hospital Control Centers at INTER. “All these applications now come together in OpSpace and the team can display control everything with only one keyboard and mouse. This has significantly improved the team’s control room processes and has given them the possibility to have a complete overview at all times.”

All sources in a single workspace

The sources that the Erasmus MC operators need to monitor are quite diverse. Among other things, there is a video surveillance camera network, access control system, car park management system, and a fire alarm control system. These sources can all be arranged in a single layout, whatever network they reside on. 

“We sometimes have to make critical decisions in a matter of seconds,” says Roy. “In that respect, it’s important to have all required information presented as efficiently as possible. We can now conveniently arrange all these sources on the video wall and workspaces, and zoom in on specific situations for further discussion. This allows us to make quicker decisions. Also, quickly switching between different video images is easy.”

“In the old control room, operators had to make use of many different workstations, displays, keyboards, and mice,” says Bart Groot, account manager with specialism in control rooms at INTER. “Thanks to Barco OpSpace, we have been able to reduce this clutter and operators now have a clean desk, where all communication and interaction with sources is done with one keyboard, one mouse, and one touch panel. This is much more efficient. With less workstations and cables close to the operator desk, and less loose displays, the control room now exudes peace and tranquility.”

Personalized workspace 

The Erasmus MC operators make use of preset perspectives and layouts in OpSpace, which they can personalize according to their specific tasks and preferences. “Our different shifts need to look at different presets,” says Roy. “We have a network of around 1,200 CCTV cameras and 6,000 electronic doors. Each team makes its own dedicated selection of these sources. For example, the layout of sources composed by our day shift teams is different than that of our night shift team. We even have a COVID-19 preset, which gives us the situation on all departments where COVID-19 patients are located.”

Changing layouts and perspectives is easy and operators are in total control of their operational content. All that the teams need to do is log in at the start of their shift, and their personalized presets show all of their sources the way they last configured them. 

“In terms of flexibility and workspace ergonomics, we have made big improvements with the installation of Barco OpSpace,” says Roy. “But also, for the safety and efficiency of operations at Erasmus MC, OpSpace has allowed us to take huge steps forward.” 

About Inter

With more than 50 years of AV experience, INTER from Duiven (NL) is a specialist in Control Rooms. Not only in terms of solutions, but also in terms of design and system integration. In addition to the medical market, INTER also sets up Control Rooms and emergency rooms in many other markets, such as transport, utilities & manufacturing. INTER, ready for customers and partners to develop great projects together ! Learn more about INTER here.