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One day in early 2020, just weeks before Philadelphia entered lockdown, Thomas Jefferson University’s public safety lead Joseph Byham abandoned a brisk walk to respond to an urgent incident. A clinician at one of Jefferson’s Center City hospitals had pressed a badge-worn button summoning security immediately: a traumatic brain injury patient was attempting to flee, and they feared it would escalate into violence.

By the time Byham arrived, the patient had escaped to the stairwell and was surrounded by six hospital staff, each of whom had been automatically notified that a nearby colleague was in distress. Once security arrived, the patient was returned to their hospital bed, and staff resumed rounds uninjured.

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“Had it not been for that proximity notification, that patient would have been able to go out the fire escape and run out into the street,” Byham said.

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