Incidents in which two nurses were wounded in separate attacks at two Los Angeles County medical centers have spurred a call for a greater focus on hospital security, according to an article on the Los Angeles Daily News website.
The California Nurses Association is backing a bill that would require the state’s Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board to adopt workplace violence prevention plans to protect healthcare workers.
In the meantime, tapes at one of the entrances at Olive View-UCLA Medical Center in Sylmar are being reviewed to see how an attacker was able to bypass a weapons screening area with a knife.
“We’ve never had an incident like this on our campus. We have a fairly high level of security compared to most facilities,” said Olive View spokeswoman Azar Kattan.
Kattan said sheriff’s deputies and private security patrol the hospital 24/7.
Weapon detectors were installed at all Los Angeles County hospitals after a gunman entered the walk-in clinic at County/USC Medical Center in 1993 and shot up the facility.
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