Doctors, nurses and other hospital workers are trained to show compassion and do no harm.
But what if a visitor pulls out a gun and suddenly opens fire?
Whether it’s a disgruntled former employee or a drug addict who’s had her newborn baby taken away, the potential exists for violent situations in the hospital setting.
“Everyone who’s coming into our facility is under some kind of stress,” said David Davis, chief of protective services and police for Summa Health System. “We need to be prepared.”
Davis was among about 70 participants at the Workplace Violence Prevention and Management for Healthcare Providers event Tuesday at the downtown headquarters of Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron.
Hospital workers, police, emergency medical responders and others from throughout Northeast Ohio attended the program, sponsored by the Akron Regional Hospital Association and Northeast Central Ohio Region 5 (NECO).
NECO promotes collaboration among public health, hospital, public safety and emergency management agencies for major emergencies and mass calamities.
The purpose of the training sessions was to help participants anticipate and deal with the special challenges posed when violent situations occur in the hospital setting, according to organizer Dr. Michael Holder Jr., vice president of the Next Generation Workforce Development Division at the BioInnovation Institute.
According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, hospital workers — particularly nurses — are at risk for workplace violence. The agency estimates the average worker has a 1.7 in 10,000 chance of being assaulted on the job, compared to a rate of 6.1 per 10,000 for registered nurses.
Another report by the Joint Commission several years ago warned that health-care institutions “are confronting steadily increasing rates of crime, including violent crimes such as assault, rape and homicide.”
In a high profile case in 2012, a Massillon man walked into a hospital room at Akron General and shot his wife of 45 years at her bedside. The woman, who was in the intensive-care unit after suffering aneurysms, died the next day.
Hospitals are open to the public around the clock, making it particularly challenging to prevent violence, Davis said.
“We’re faced with drug seekers,” he said. “We’re faced with gang members shooting each other in the community and then coming to our hospital.”
The training featured video-based simulations filmed at the BioInnovation Institute’s Simulation Center, which includes a realistic emergency department, operating room and patient rooms.
Participants broke into several small group discussions to talk about the scenarios and learn potential responses.
During one session, Akron Police Sgt. Mike Yohe encouraged hospital workers to fight back if they’re in close range to a shooter.
“You really are at that point in a fight for your life,” he said. “Anything less than that empowers the suspect. If you’re within that 4- to 6-yard range, you’re not getting away anyway. You might as well go down with a fight. … Once it happens, take action.”
Davis then led several of the participants in a “swarm technique” his department teaches employees at Summa. The idea, he said, is to take control of the shooter’s head, arms and legs.
“The head made the difference,” Kathy Cern, EMS coordinator for Akron General Medical Center, said after helping bring down a “shooter” portrayed by another participant in a mock hospital room at the BioInnovation Institute. “He could still move until we got the head.”
The daylong event also featured talks by local and national experts, including Isaac Ashkenazi, former director of the Urban Terrorism Preparedness Project at the National Preparedness Leadership Initiative and former surgeon general for the Israeli Defense Force Home Front Command.
Ashkenazi talked about the “active shooter,” or a gunman who is attempting to kill people in a mass shooting, rather than targeting a lone victim.
Active shooters are almost always males who plan ahead and give clues about their intent, he said. There is always a catalyst — things such as losing a job, getting a divorce, being fired, feeling humiliated.
“Shooting attacks are always a predictable surprise,” he said. “If you see something, say something.”
Cheryl Powell can be reached at 330-996-3902 or cpowell@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow Powell on Twitter at twitter.com/CherylPowellABJ.