A system for enabling fail-safe operation of an automatic pedestrian access control gate during a health and safety event, the system comprising: a gate paddle configured to operate in an open state and a locked state, wherein pedestrian passage through the access control gate is granted while the gate paddle is operating in the open state, and wherein pedestrian passage through the access control gate is blocked while the gate paddle is operating in the locked state; a gate paddle sensor configured to detect a position of the gate paddle; and a computer server system coupled to the gate paddle and the gate paddle sensor, the computer server system being configured to: receive gate paddle sensor data from the gate paddle sensor indicating the position of the gate paddle, determine, based on the gate paddle sensor data, that the gate paddle is stuck in an unnatural position that is different from a natural resting position of the gate paddle during normal operation, determine that the gate paddle is currently operating in the locked state, transmit an alert to a remote monitoring device (128,130), determine whether the remote monitoring device (128,130) is actively monitored, select a timeout threshold based on the determination of whether the remote monitoring device (128,130) is actively monitored, wherein the timeout threshold is different upon a determination that the remote monitoring device is actively monitored than upon a determination that the remote monitoring device is not actively monitored, determine that an acknowledgement of the alert has not been received within the selected timeout threshold, and transmit a signal to the gate paddle that causes the gate paddle to operate in the open state based on determining that the gate paddle is stuck in the unnatural position, determining that the gate paddle is currently operating in the locked state, and determining that the acknowledgement has not been received within the selected timeout threshold. a gate paddle configured to operate in an open state and a locked state, wherein pedestrian passage through the access control gate is granted while the gate paddle is operating in the open state, and wherein pedestrian passage through the access control gate is blocked while the gate paddle is operating in the locked state; a gate paddle sensor configured to detect a position of the gate paddle; and a computer server system coupled to the gate paddle and the gate paddle sensor, the computer server system being configured to: receive gate paddle sensor data from the gate paddle sensor indicating the position of the gate paddle, determine, based on the gate paddle sensor data, that the gate paddle is stuck in an unnatural position that is different from a natural resting position of the gate paddle during normal operation, determine that the gate paddle is currently operating in the locked state, transmit an alert to a remote monitoring device (128,130), determine whether the remote monitoring device (128,130) is actively monitored, select a timeout threshold based on the determination of whether the remote monitoring device (128,130) is actively monitored, wherein the timeout threshold is different upon a determination that the remote monitoring device is actively monitored than upon a determination that the remote monitoring device is not actively monitored, determine that an acknowledgement of the alert has not been received within the selected timeout threshold, and transmit a signal to the gate paddle that causes the gate paddle to operate in the open state based on determining that the gate paddle is stuck in the unnatural position, determining that the gate paddle is currently operating in the locked state, and determining that the acknowledgement has not been received within the selected timeout threshold. receive gate paddle sensor data from the gate paddle sensor indicating the position of the gate paddle, determine, based on the gate paddle sensor data, that the gate paddle is stuck in an unnatural position that is different from a natural resting position of the gate paddle during normal operation, determine that the gate paddle is currently operating in the locked state, transmit an alert to a remote monitoring device (128,130), determine whether the remote monitoring device (128,130) is actively monitored, select a timeout threshold based on the determination of whether the remote monitoring device (128,130) is actively monitored, wherein the timeout threshold is different upon a determination that the remote monitoring device is actively monitored than upon a determination that the remote monitoring device is not actively monitored, determine that an acknowledgement of the alert has not been received within the selected timeout threshold, and transmit a signal to the gate paddle that causes the gate paddle to operate in the open state based on determining that the gate paddle is stuck in the unnatural position, determining that the gate paddle is currently operating in the locked state, and determining that the acknowledgement has not been received within the selected timeout threshold.