Preparation key to dealing with healthcare facility shootings

While the majority of people inside a healthcare facility will be able to comply with the standard “run, hide, fight” directive, those providing essential medical care to patients cannot, according to an article on the Baylor College of Medicine website.

“We need to secure the location immediately, preserve the life of the patient and oneself and fight only if necessary,” Dr. Kenneth L. Mattox, professor of cardiothoracic surgery at Baylor and chief of staff and surgeon-in-chief at Harris Health’s Ben Taub Hospital, said in the article. “Secure, preserve, fight.”

This strategy, described in a recent publication in the New England Journal of Medicine, was created by reviewing data of past hospital shootings between 2000 and 2011. The strategy emphasizes that an integral first step to this response is to prepare.  

Areas should be designated as "life-sustaining" and should be equipped with devices that can lock and secure doors and entry points. There also should be life-saving kits placed throughout the hospital. The kits are specifically designed to treat excessive bleeding, which is usually the most urgent care needed when someone is shot.

Read the article.