GardaWorld is a proud partner of the Fraser Health Authority, the largest of British Columbia's five regional health agencies which collaborate with the Ministry of Health. Like with all of our healthcare partners, GardaWorld works with internal teams to build innovative security programs that respond to the particular needs of the healthcare industry, such as the Client Service Ambassador Program at P3 Operations, ARHCC Inc at Fraser Health Authority that aims to deter violence through customer care.
During a recent webinar, Jonathan Acorn, CHPA, Director, Operations at Lower Mainland Integrated Protection Services for Fraser Health discussed how the program has been successful at improving customer experience and reducing violence.
About Fraser Health Authority
On the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Coast Salish and Nlaka'pamux Nations, the Fraser Health Authority is responsible for providing hospital and community-based health care to nearly 1.9 million people in 20 varied communities ranging from Burnaby to Fraser Canyon. Their team of 43,000 staff, medical staff and volunteers supplies services such as public health, mental care, and home health.
What is the Client Service Ambassador Program?
The Client Ambassador Service Program was developed and overseen by their intervention services with main goal of improving the customer experience in the emergency department. It also allows their staff to connect with people on a human level, rather than patients, to help prevent violent situations. It is focused on supportive and nonjudgmental interactions with people.
They created this program to improve the customer experience, focus on care, and deter violence in the ER. The ambassador’s job is to actively monitor and patrol the emergency department to alleviate the stress that comes with a visit. Ambassadors act as a bridge between the clinical and security staff, participating in team briefings and making sure that communication runs smoothly through both departments.
What does it take to be a Client Service Ambassador in an ER?
They typically recruit candidates from more experienced security staff that are comfortable interacting with patients in more challenging settings and that are already familiar with the team. They need to be empathetic.
“You can teach people more technical skills, but you can’t teach people how to be the type of person you think will fit” declares Acorn.
Then, ambassadors go through rigorous trainings in violence mitigation and de-escalation techniques that follows BC’s Provincial Violence Prevention Curriculum, which is renewed annually. Yet, they’re also trained in cultural awareness and trauma informed care.
Their Innovative Tracking Application: How They Track Success
Mr Acorn explains, “We know that data is important. Data plays a key role in our sector in terms of quality services. In the security industry, especially in this digital age, if you didn’t document it, it didn’t happen.” However, emphasizing the importance of recording information does not necessarily mean neglecting valuable time that could be used on the floor.
They didn’t want their staff to run every time to their computer, since they wouldn’t be able to do their job accordingly. Ultimately, they developed a mobile application. They started with tablets and have since evolved to a smart phone device. The app includes 19 intervention categories, such as distress level and medical concerns. That way, when their ambassadors are must intervene with a client, they can document it quickly.
Since the implementation of the app, the level of safety felt by their ambassadors and clients went up by two full points on a scale of 1 to 10 rating.
To learn more about Fraser Health Authority and their Client Ambassadors Program, you can hear Mr. Acorn talk about it in our latest webinar.
