When one thinks of hospitals, one usually doesn’t think of outstanding culinary delights. In fact, hospital food has a general image of the type normally associated with airplane food or military food – no one’s exactly clamoring for it. Except, as it turns out, maybe a few employees at Community General Hospital of Sullivan County in Harris, N.Y.

However, when Steven Hillriegel, the hospital’s facility manager, called P.N. Fire & Burglar Alarm Co. Inc. of Monticello, N.Y., a 42-year-old, family owned installer, to talk about a pilfering problem in the hospital cafeteria’s kitchen, the company had just the answer to his needs.

Steven B. Kaufman, P.N. Alarm’s vice president, had recently heard of a new product from Crow Electronic Engineering Inc. called the Memocam. The device sounded just like what this client of 10 years needed to control the situation.

The Memocam allows users to meet a number of CCTV needs without running any cable through the facility. It can also be moved easily when security concerns arise in another area of the hospital. Having extensive experience in this hospital, Kaufman knew that a single camera in the necessary location would do the trick.

The installation called for P.N. Alarm to come up with a video system that would protect the kitchen area from further employee theft. The company opted for the Crow/Video Domain Memocam, the Crow Z10 memory card reader for a PC and an Altronix power supply.System Donated After Theft Concerns Arise

When Hillriegel discovered the problem – after-hours employees entering and removing food products from Community General’s employee cafeteria kitchen staging area – P.N. Alarm was already in the midst of its latest installation at the hospital.

P.N. Alarm decided to donate the camera system to the hospital. Kaufman estimates the cost of equipment and installation for the camera at about $975. It took senior installer Brian Blake just 20 minutes to install the physical unit and another hour to install, test and demonstrate the software.

The installation was as simple as it sounds. However, Kaufman attests, the key to using the camera properly is having an installer and a user that understand how to handle the hardware/software combination.Relationship Makes Installer’s Job Easy

P.N. Alarm, whose normal market is about 55 percent burglary, 25 percent fire, 15 percent CCTV and 5 percent access control, has worked on Community General’s security needs for more than 10 years. Kaufman estimates the overall value of systems installed in the hospital during this time in excess of $100,000.Standalone Camera Simplifies Image Capturing

Because of this long-standing relationship, fostered by Kaufman and his cousin Steven L. Kaufman, owner of P.N. Alarm, the suggested use of the Memocam was met with no questions from Hillriegel about its use or effectiveness.

The camera is a standalone device that allows the user to utilize memory cards to view stored video on his or her PC.

But, as Hillriegel points out, a visible camera may not only catch thieves in the act, but also serve to deter thieves from the act prior to any loss.

Kaufman says the camera is as easy to operate as the remote control device that comes with it. Kaufman also touts the camera’s economic features.

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