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Hospital & Healthcare
There are a myriad of threats facing healthcare institutions today. Terrorism is an ever-present threat, and the targeting of hospitals as part of a larger terrorist attack is a proven terror tactic. This tactic is commonly referred to as a “terror multiplier effect”. Aside from terrorism, healthcare institutions face many threats including active shooter, infant/child abduction, gang activity, domestic violence issues, spillover violence from the community, cyber-attacks, insider threats to proprietary information and research, loss of critical infrastructure and much more.
Historically, healthcare institutions have focused primarily on healing, and security is usually an afterthought. However, there is now an increased emphasis on safety and security following an increasing trend in healthcare violence. The failure to plan and prepare for safety and security events causes significant civil liability for hospitals. Most importantly, the failure to plan and prepare causes of loss of reputation of the healthcare institution. This loss of reputation can result in millions of dollars of lost revenue for the institution.
Outside of the justice system, healthcare is one of the few professions in which employees are almost guaranteed to experience violent victimization in their career.
Many users of the justice system also utilize service in healthcare. Approximately 70,000 nurses each year are the victims of violent attacks. Approximately three out of every 100 nurses will report a violent attack each year. However, numerous studies have found that healthcare workers only report approximately 25% of workplace assaults. If the numbers were accurately reported, a quarter million nurses each year will be the victim of a violent attack, and 12 out of every 100 nurses will have a violent attack each year.
The threat of active shooters in the hospital is a serious threat. In the last decade, there were 150 shootings at hospitals in the United States. The standard “Run, Hide, Fight” response is not always appropriate in healthcare as many healthcare providers refuse to leave their patients. This is something that administrators must account for in safety and security training. Threat Suppression staff have had the opportunity to meet with responders and walkthrough sites of hospital active shooter events and nursing home active shooter events. The deadliest nursing home active shooter event in United States history occurred in Carthage, North Carolina, less than 60 miles from Threat Suppression’s corporate headquarters.
"The failure to adequately plan and prepare for safety and security can result in loss of life, loss of reputation, and loss of revenue. Many businesses are unable to ever recover from this triple blow."
Universally, healthcare safety and security experts recognize that every healthcare institution faces unique threats. In addition, terrorism experts have almost universally agreed that healthcare institutions are at significant risk for attack. In the United States, the federal government has given a grade of D+ for hospital terrorism preparation, and a total grade of C- for hospital safety and security preparedness. Many hospitals find that they are unprepared for significant criminal and terrorism events at their facilities.
The healthcare safety and security training at Threat Suppression covers a wide variety of threats. Our nationally recognized program WATCH: Workplace Awareness for Terrorism and Crimes in Hospitals has received multiple accolades for the depth and scope of the training. In 2013, Threat Suppression presented this as a keynote lecture at the Emergency Nurses Association Annual Leadership Conference. This lecture has also been presented at multiple American Association of Critical Care Nurses’ conferences, and American College of Emergency Physicians’ conference. Threat Suppression has provided this training for major institutions such as Duke University Medical Center, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, and the Veteran’s Administration Medical Center.
In 2013, Threat Suppression’s CEO, Dr. Mike Clumpner was asked to do an interview on hospital active shooter with Dr. Ilene Claudius (UCLA Medical Center) for the Emergency Medicine and Reviews Perspective (EMRAP). The 30-minute session became the most popular podcast in EMRAP history and was downloaded more than 100,000 times. You can listen to this podcast here. This podcast also became the most downloaded active shooter podcast on iTunes. In 2016, Dr. Clumpner conducted a follow-up interview with EMRAP's Director, Dr. Mel Herbert. You can listen to that podcast here.
Below are our training courses for hospitals and healthcare institutions. Click on each course to learn more:
Response to the Hospital Active Assailant
Workplace Violence in the Hospital
WATCH: Workplace Awareness for Terrorism and Crimes in Hospitals
Threat Suppression provides multiple services for healthcare institutions. These services include site security analysis, policy and procedure development, and staff training. If you would like more information on the safety and security consulting that Threat Suppression provides for hospitals and healthcare institutions,
please email info@ThreatSuppression.com or call 1-800-231-9106.