Amid increasing security risks, a vast majority of healthcare facilities have adopted training programs on de-escalating security situations before they erupt, according to an article on the Hospitals & Health Networks website.

A marked increase in such training was reported by the 2016 Hospital Security Survey. It was conducted by Health Facilities Management magazine and the American Society for Healthcare Engineering, which is part of the American Hospital Association.

In the June survey, 75 percent of the 255 respondents said that maintaining security has become more challenging over the past two years and 85 percent are using aggressive behavior management training. Another 5 percent plan to implement such training in the next year, the article said.

Training is a proactive way to keep staff ahead of the curve instead of playing catch-up after the fact, Tom Smith, president of Healthcare Security Consultants Inc. and former president of the International Association for Healthcare Security & Safety, said in the article.

Read the article.