The crisis brought on by the pandemic means food banks are more crucial than ever. But how do you make these resources safe? ScanaTemp has the answer.
As demand for their services increases, essential locations like food banks and soup kitchens are at particular high risk during the pandemic. On a daily basis, they deal with higher and higher levels of traffic from people in need of essential items. Feeding America reports that because of the pandemic, 1 in 6 Americans could face hunger; and food banks are reporting similar statistics. In October 2020 alone, they distributed 50 percent more food than they did the year before, with these numbers projected to increase as the economic crisis intensifies.
In this context, safety protocols such as social distancing, temperature scans and the wearing of face coverings, become especially challenging to enforce. Staff members are already busy addressing the needs of a much higher number of visitors than usual, while also trying to ensure their own protection from COVID-19. Additional risks of spreading the virus come from the voluntary nature of non-profits like these, where operations are run by a variety of employees, volunteers, and vendors who are often from different parts of town, increasing exposure.
One of the earliest adopters of ScanaTemp was a food pantry and soup kitchen in Pennsylvania. “It is critical to our ability to serve those in need that we continue onsite operations,” says Suzan, the director of the organization. “ScanaTemp gives us the assurance that anyone with elevated temperature will be discovered before they enter.”
This food bank sought to adhere to the county requirement of measuring temperatures upon entry but struggled to carry this out in an effective manner that did not overly inconvenience staff, visitors, or overly expose staff to large numbers of people. They began using ScanaTemp to read the temperatures of those entering the premises in July 2020 and found it to be the perfect solution to their problem.
“ScanaTemp has become an effective tool for quickly and safely determining if it is safe for an employee, volunteer or vendor to enter,” Suzan says. “No longer does an employee have to be assigned to scan those entering; ScanaTemp does this for us.”
By using two different ScanaTemp units, temperatures can now be monitored both at the entrance of the building and at the front desk, reading the temperatures of multiple people at a time in less than half a second. ScanaTemp units can be mounted either on the wall or on a conveniently placed tripod. And with ScanaTemp’s new face covering detecting feature, visitors can also be reminded to put on a face mask before entering the premises, either by alarm or a voice prompt, if they have not done so already.
With ScanaTemp, Suzan says, “No one minds the daily scan of their temperature because it is quick and does not involve another person. They are amused by ScanaTemp’s cheerful appearance and reassured by the ease of operation and the quick audio report.”