Halifax hospitals to begin using AI-based weapons screening

Anyone entering the QEII’s Halifax Infirmary or Dartmouth General Hospital will need to go through AI-based weapons screening as of Saturday.

People are asked to budget extra time for the screening when arriving for appointments and to avoid bringing non-essential items to cut down on wait times.

The technology is being introduced to the Halifax-area hospitals as part of efforts to “enhance safety and security for all patients, visitors and hospital staff,” according to Nova Scotia Health.

The device will be placed at the main doors and emergency entrances at both facilities.

It uses artificial intelligence to detect anything that resembles a weapon or is “reasonably deemed capable of being used as a weapon.”

Anything that is prohibited, which includes firearms and brass knuckles, will be confiscated and may be turned over to police.

“Security staff will be present to answer any questions or address concerns about navigating the new safety process. AI technology will not adversely affect people with medical devices,” Nova Scotia Health noted in a release.

Workplace safety and violence in health-care settings have been an ongoing concern in Nova Scotia. In January, three employees at the Halifax Infirmary emergency department were stabbed by a patient in what the province’s health minister called a “serious incident.”

The AI-powered device was brought into the Colchester East Hants Health Centre’s emergency department in Truro, N.S., in May as part of a pilot project.

At the time, the company that built the system said the machine allowed weapons to be identified quickly and without a physical pat-down.

“(The censors) detect the characteristics of metals and then those characteristics run through an AI sensor,” said Peter Evans, CEO of Xtract One Technologies, on May 30.

“And through that AI sensor, we can then determine, ‘This is a knife, this is a gun, this is a cellphone, this is a laptop, this is jewelry, (etc.).”

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In an August update, Nova Scotia Health said the project was a success. Over a 10-day period in May, 7,400 people walked through the doors of that hospital and 49 prohibited items were detected. These included pocket knives and box cutters.

“(The technology) significantly reduces the number of secondary searches required to ensure that we actually know what it is that’s setting off the detector,” said Dean Stienburg, director of security with Nova Scotia Health, in August.

“And that’s important because it’s less invasive for the people coming in. It’s faster. It is more accurate in a lot of circumstances for us.”

Saturday’s change means that visitors at the QEII will no longer be able to enter the Halifax Infirmary through the pedway from the Abbie J Lane or Veterans Memorial buildings.

— With files from Global News’ Mitchell Bailey and Ella MacDonald