Artificial intelligence to scan for weapons at Health Sciences Centre

Artificial intelligence is coming to Manitoba's largest hospital in an effort to boost safety and stop weapons from getting inside.

Artificial intelligence is coming to Manitoba's largest hospital in an effort to boost safety and stop weapons from getting inside.

The Health Sciences Centre will soon launch a pilot project using AI scanners to detect weapons at the entrances of the adult emergency department and the Crisis Response Centre. While no start date has been finalized, the hospital says this technology could be in action as early as next week.

"We have had incidents where people have brought weapons into the facility and we had a security guard injured earlier this year from one of those weapons," said Dr. Shawn Young, the chief operating officer at HSC.

He said he's seen pictures of the long knives and machetes – just a few examples of some of the weapons that have been brought into the hospital.

"We're now going to be taking a greater effort to make sure that they're not carrying any weapons that could be of concern for us," he said. "Prior to this, we weren't so much asking. It was similar to your going to the store, going to a mall – we just didn't ask."

Under this pilot project, which could last months, every patient, visitor and staff member will need to be screened when entering the ER or Crisis Response Centre. It'll be similar to a metal detector, but this scanner will use AI to detect weapons.

Unlike a metal detector, visitors won't have to take off their shoes or pull out their keys, wallet and cellphone from their pocket.