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Within the span of one 24-hour period three are shot and killed at Doctor’s Hospital in Columbus, GA and a one day old infant is abducted from a Regional Hospital in Sanford, FL. There is a high likelihood that these two incidents will spark copycat incidents over the next few weeks. Just look at the shooting incidents that came in the wake of the Omaha Mall shootings. At this point it is too early to affix blame to anyone other than the perpetrators. We do not know if these hospitals did or did not have adequate security programs. That will all be sorted out over the next few years.
Incidents like this, and those that will surely follow, should be instructive to hospital administrators in that these kinds of incidents can occur quickly and without notice. The security needs of hospitals are uniquely different from any other kind of business enterprise. Hospitals, for the most part, are open, inviting facilities with varying degrees of access control. It suffices to say that every hospital is vulnerable to penetration by bad people. This means, to use a football analogy, hospitals must deploy a “Bend, but don’t break defense.” This means that the security program must anticipate that folks are going to enter the hospitals that do not belong. This means there must be secondary and even tertiary lines of defense within the outer perimeter.
Hospital security programs, not unlike most security programs, differ from hospital to hospital predicated on a wide range of variables. No two hospital security programs are, or should be, the same. This means that security is a situational discipline. It also means that the hospital security program must find its origins in a competent security assessment. It is critical that any hospital that has not had a recent through security assessment do so in the near term. Clearly all hospitals must increase their vigilance for the potential of copycat crimes.
Many hospitals, across the country unfortunately, do not place a high priority on security. Some see security only as a necessary evil and a drain on scarce resources. Effective security programs do and should contribute to the financial well being of the institution. Hospital security programs have the potential to deter financial drains by preventing thousands of dollars from walking out the numerous doors that most hospitals have.
Clearly effective hospital security is a team sport. This means every employee must participate every day. Hospital security is not a “we/them” proposition (we = all employees except security personnel; them = security personnel). Effective security programs must include the proper mixture of employee participation, the judicious use of physical security equipment and technology and (in most cases) security personnel. Don’t wait until it is too late, but better late than never.
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