Page 38 - Security Today, April 2022

Mitigating Violence COVID-19 has stretched the limits of hospitals and staff
By Lisa Terry
Hospitals and health sys- tems are tasked with con- trolling costs and cutting budgets while maintain- ing the highest levels of patient care, safety and privacy, which heighten our awareness of the vital role played by security services in the nation’s ever-evolving healthcare landscape. With the unpredictable rise and fall of COVID cases stretching the limits of some hospi- tals, tensions can escalate and the oppor- tunity for violence can rise.
Violence against healthcare workers has become more widespread since the pandemic began. A report from Insecurity Insight and the University of California, Berkeley’s Human Rights Center found that more than 1,100 threats or violent acts against healthcare workers and facilities oc- curred worldwide in 2020, with around 400 of those attacks related to COVID.
Security has proven to be more essen- tial than ever in the health care world as the chaotic, uncertain nature of the coro- navirus has created new threats for patients
and health care workers within the walls of a hospital. The hallmarks of an effective workplace violence prevention program in- clude numerous partnerships among a wide variety of stakeholders. The workplace vio- lence prevention (WPV) team or commit- tee should be a cross-functional and diverse group dedicated to a culture of safety.
Internal partnerships include stake- holders including security, patient safety, nursing, compliance, risk management and human resources. External partner- ships include regulatory, compliance and consulting organizations such as The Joint Commission (TJC) which released new WPV prevention standards effective January 1st 2022 along with a free web- page that includes a host of tools to assist healthcare organizations strengthen their culture of safety.
CREATING SAFER
WORKPLACES GUIDE
The American Hospital Association (AHA) and the International Association for Healthcare Security & Safety (IAHSS)
collaborated on “Creating Safer Work- places: A Guide to Mitigating Violence in Health Care Settings.” This new guide is a crucial read for healthcare security leaders as it offers a number of case studies that il- lustrate how a range of organizations used best practices and individual solutions tailored on the organization’s size, culture and resources.
The report offers a framework to guide leaders in building a culture of safety, mitigating risk, violence intervention and the support of trauma survivors and rec- ommends holding all parties accountable. Recording metrics and promoting ongo- ing education and training across the or- ganization are vital.
The IAHSS Council on Guidelines de- fines WPV as “an act or threat occurring at the workplace that can include any of the following: verbal, written, or physical aggression; threatening, intimidating, ha- rassing, or humiliating words or actions; bullying; sabotage; harassment; physical assaults or other behaviors of concern involving staff, licensed practitioners, pa- tients, visitors, or others on-site or off-site when related to the healthcare facility.
Hospitals face many challenges in re- gard to active shooter risk such as provid- ing care to victims of shootings and being prepared in the event a shooting situation occurs at the hospital. In times of crisis, it is imperative that proper protocol is followed to minimize risk to workers and patients, and to end the situation as safely as possi- ble. It is important for hospitals and health- care systems to practice best practices that offertheabilitytoeasilytrainhospitalstaff. All staff need to have the following:
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Overview of the potential threat of ac- tive shooters in hospitals
Tips about how to prepare a hospital facili- ty to protect against an active shooter threat Information on how to recognize a po- tential shooter
What to expect from first responders and how to help and preserve life during an active shooter incident
Outline a plan to quickly recover to help keep the facility open and operational
HEALTHCARE SECURITY
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