NEW YORK, NEW YORK, USA, September 7, 2023/ EINPresswire.com / -- SecuritySolutionsWatch.com: Thank you for joining us today, Paul. It an honor to speak with the Past President of the IAHSS (International Association for Healthcare Security and Safety). Your experience and capabilities in Healthcare Security are second to none. Before discussing your firm, Secured and Prepared Consulting ( www.securedandprepared.com/ ) in greater detail, please tell us more about your background.

Paul Sarnese: I began my career as a security officer at a hospital in Camden, New Jersey. I quickly fell in love with two things-one, the security profession and two, my wife Kim who also worked at the hospital. I believe in being a servant to others and a servant leader to those in your charge. I love the feeling and satisfaction that comes with serving others and creating an atmosphere where people feel welcomed and safe. I had the pleasure of working with great mentors who encouraged me to invest time and energy in my education and knowledge.

I also love to teach, and I have been honored to speak at national and international conferences on subjects like workplace violence and active shooter training and emergency exercise management. I was truly humbled when I was chosen as the 2022 Campus Safety-Healthcare Security Director of the Year and in the same year I was also chosen as a finalist for the Outstanding Security Performance Awards sponsored by the American Society for Industrial Security.

My passion is reducing workplace violence in healthcare, and I was honored to be chosen to participate as a Technical Advisor to the Joint Commission in developing the new Workplace Violence Prevention Standards.

I worked in the healthcare industry for over 35 years and held numerous leadership positions directing and managing safety, security, emergency management and operations in large health systems. Before I transitioned to full-time consulting, I was the Assistant Vice President of Safety, Security and Emergency Preparedness for large health system in New Jersey.

SecuritySolutionsWatch.com: We read with great interest on your site ( www.securedandprepared.com/ ) , “At our healthcare safety and security consulting firm, our mission is to empower healthcare organizations to thrive in a secure and resilient environment. We are dedicated to providing exceptional consulting services, innovative solutions, and expert guidance that help our clients achieve compliance, enhance preparedness, and mitigate risks. By fostering a culture of safety and security, we strive to protect the well-being of healthcare staff, patients, and assets, enabling organizations to focus on their core mission of delivering quality care. With our unwavering commitment to excellence and a client-centered approach, we are driven to be the trusted partner that healthcare organizations rely on for their safety and security needs. Our firm is a trusted industry leader with over 30 years of experience”. Care to elaborate about this mission statement for your firm?

Paul Sarnese: We take a unique approach to helping healthcare organizations identify and correct vulnerabilities in their workplace violence prevention (WPV) programs. I say unique because as we know, WPV is not just a security issue. We know that if you want to make your team not only feel safer, but be safer, at work then you must assess the sum of the whole. You must complete a physical environment/security assessment, but you also must recognize the other contributing factors such as the organization’s infrastructure, the WPV program, and the clinical components. We not only identify the opportunities, but we provide proven strategies to address the issues. We typically provide reports to the Senior Leaders, Managers and sometimes even the Board of Directors. Our relationship with our clients lasts well beyond the completion of our engagement. We strive to be the company that you call when you have a question or need safety, security, emergency management and regulatory compliance support.

That is where we come in. If you are a leader and you want to tell your team how important their safety is to you, then call us. There is nothing more powerful than telling your team that you care so much about their safety that you brought in a nurse and a security expert to evaluate your WPV program to improve their safety.

SecuritySolutionsWatch.com: Your team provides a wide range of comprehensive services and solutions ( https://www.securedandprepared.com/services-7 ) tailored to address the unique challenges of each client such as: Workplace Violence Assessments, Security Program Development, Security Assessments, OSHA Support, Training, Litigation Support/ Expert Witness Services, Temporary Leadership Support, and even Merger and Acquisition Due Diligence. Please give us an overview of the services provided by Secured & Prepared Consulting.

Paul Sarnese: We help organizations to identify opportunities for improvement to strengthen their workplace violence, safety, security, emergency management and accreditation compliance programs. Every organization has unique needs and risks. We tailor our assessment and program development activities to meet the client’s needs. An acute care hospital has different workflows and risks than a long-term care facility, which is different in a behavioral health facility which is different than a school or church. We have decades of experience in navigating the rules and regulations of accrediting and health and safety enforcement organizations. Because of our experience and backgrounds, we can provide valuable insight for attorneys to support their cases and their clients.

SecuritySolutionsWatch.com: Your team ( https://www.securedandprepared.com/meet-the-team ) at Secured & Prepared Consulting, is most impressive as well, Paul, as it includes healthcare professionals with real world experience in healthcare settings – we don’t always see that. Please tell us more.

Paul Sarnese: Our team of experienced professionals has real life experience in healthcare. We have all worked for very large and complex healthcare organizations that provide pre-hospital, hospital, long term care, outpatient, and homecare/community services. Because of our experience, we know how to navigate the culture of organizations, to build strong relationships, and to create a collaborative approach to solving the challenges that we face. Our team has created very successful departments and programs that included: workplace violence programs, security programs, accreditation readiness programs, Environment of Care programs, drug diversion programs, safe patient handling programs, patient observation program, identification and management of aggressive behavior training, suicide risk prevention programs, and emergency preparedness programs and exercise development. We created many programs that have been recognized as “best in class” and “leading practices” that have been emulated by other healthcare facilities throughout the world. Some examples include our violence prevention program, K9 program, the design and capabilities of a corporate security operations center, a people and weapons screening process, the deployment of amnesty boxes, the use of public view monitors, providing security escorts for homecare staff and community workers, the deployment of a mobile app to provide emergency management information to all employees, and the deployment of personal duress system for all staff members who work in the community.

SecuritySolutionsWatch.com: Congratulations, Paul, on recently being featured in Chief Healthcare Executive ( https://www.chiefhealthcareexecutive.com/view/if-hospitals-want-to-improve-safety-start-by-talking-to-the-employees ) where you discussed how hospitals can improve safety by talking to the employees. That seems to make perfect sense to us. Please share with our readers your thoughts on this?

Paul Sarnese: Thank you, it is always an honor to be able to connect with leaders and problem solve together. My thoughts are that contrary to popular belief, workplace violence in healthcare is not merely a security issue. Workplace violence is far more complex and systemic and can’t be corrected by looking at security alone. That is what makes our approach so special. We assess all the components of the system, we look at security, we evaluate the core infrastructure, we have a nurse on the team that evaluates clinical WPV risk, and we capture the voice of the customer in a way that most don’t because of our approach. Many organizations spend tens of thousands of dollars on physical security solutions that do not contribute to staff feeling safe. By capturing the voice of the customers, we can help organizations prioritize their activities and allocation of resources.

SecuritySolutionsWatch.com: Any recent projects you would like to talk about or testimonials you care to mention?

Paul Sarnese: Yes, thank you for asking. We recently completed a WPV assessment for a large healthcare system on the east coast. This was a huge win for both the local sites and the health system. The local sites had the opportunity to have an individualized assessment, while the system had the opportunity to identify infrastructure needs and develop a standardized approach.

The feedback that we received was amazing. First, I can’t even begin to tell you what a powerful message you are sending to your team when you hire a team like ours to come in and do an assessment with the intention of improving their safety. There were countless times where staff would literally well up with tears and say thank you, I am so happy that the organization is making this a priority. Second, we constantly heard, “wow, this assessment is far exceeding any my expectations…” That is 100% attributed to our approach. Again we are doing this different than everyone else, we are not merely assessing security, our team is diverse as we intentionally bring a security expert and a Quality, Accreditation, Risk nurse to complete the evaluation because we recognize the complexity of the issues were are addressing. Lastly, we provide support after the assessment is complete. We report out to local senior leaders, as well as corporate senior leaders, followed by aiding in strategy implementation as needed.

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For the complete interview with Paul Sarnese and more information about “best practices”, legal services, and much more, please click here:

https://www.securitysolutionswatch.com/Interviews/in_Boardroom_SecuredandPrepared_Paul_Sarnese.html

Paul Sarnese, CHPA, MSE, MAS, CAPM, Owner/Founder Secured &Prepared Consulting