A hospital’s number one priority should be providing top notch patient care. Time spent by hospital staff should be on diagnosing ailments, not worrying about external forces that could impact their ability to treat patients. Luckily, with some prior planning, and an accountable, experienced security partner, many of the issues currently facing emergency rooms can be avoided.
Hospitals and emergency rooms across the nation have been plagued with an increase in criminal activity and violent acts. With violent crime rates increasing from 1 incident per 100 beds to 1.4 incidents, this has become an increasingly prevalent issue for hospital administrators as crimes range from the simple assault of hospital staff and patients, all the way to homicide. The threat doesn’t just come from outsiders. In fact, disorderly patients, patient family members, and even employees can present a significant threat.
Despite the increase in crime, many hospitals still find their hospital security to be insufficient to handle emergency situations. Some hospitals even lack a dedicated security team and rely on in-house staff to address dangerous situations. While your hospital staff is undoubtedly expertly trained to deal with all kinds of medical emergencies, they lack the proper security training that can help prevent situations before they even begin. Here are the most important reasons why your hospital should reconsider its security protocols, and leave the protection of the facility up to the professionals.
● Employees should be focused on patient care, not their personal well-being. Everyone wants to feel safe and secure at their workplace. Providing a dedicated security team will give everyone peace of mind and allow the medical staff to focus on treating patients.
● Incidents against employees could result in lawsuits, fines, employee turnover, or bad publicity. If a member of your staff feels like they are put in a situation where they must protect themselves or others, it could result in months or years of legal complications. In 2014, a psychiatrist was forced to shoot a patient after the patient had shot his caseworker and began firing at the doctor. This incident prompted calls to fire and charge the doctor and set off self-defense debates across the country. Eventually, no charges were filed, and the doctor was not fired, but the incident had a significant impact on the reputation of the hospital and the doctor in the years that followed.
● Administrators could be held accountable. Hospital administrators are responsible for every aspect of their hospital. From patient safety to the reputation of their medical facility, it ultimately falls in the lap of the administrators. If patient and employee safety becomes threatened, then the hospital administrators can ultimately become the target of blame.
Fortunately, there is a simple solution for medical facilities. Hiring a private security contractor, like Signal Security, can help address these threats and, more importantly, help prevent a threat from even arising. Here’s how a dedicated security team can help prevent and reduce crimes from taking place:
● Monitor and control entry into the hospital. A trained security guard can recognize suspicious behaviors more quickly than the average person, thus preventing trouble before it walks through the door.
● Prevent property damage and theft. One unruly patient or family member can cause expensive damage to hospital property. With a single machine costing hundreds of thousands of dollars, having a dedicated security team in place trained to de-escalate dangerous situations can prevent the damage of expensive equipment. They can also prevent the theft of any medical equipment, computers, or personal belongings.
● Ensure restricted areas are guarded. Security officers can protect areas with restricted access and prevent unauthorized people from entering.
● Handle unruly behavior. Hospitals are often the scene for high-emotion and tense situations where things can sometimes get out of hand. Trained security guards can help prevent the escalation of such events and can work alongside the medical staff in calming distraught or upset patients or their families.
● Protect the reputation of your medical facility. While people may not know the safest hospital in their area, they most likely know the ones to avoid. A dedicated security team can protect the hospital’s reputation, bottom line, and most importantly, its assets, by preventing dangerous situations from arising in the first place.
Hospital and emergency facilities should be a place of healing and safety for everyone. With Signal at your side, we can ensure that patient and employee peace of mind is our top priority. Our team of experts is able to provide you with a detailed, custom security package that addresses the specific risks of your facility. To request a quote for security services, contact us today.
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