Most hospitals and their employees have seen the impact of violence in society, especially when victims enter emergency departments or trauma centers. But it continues to be a challenge for healthcare security and safety executives and their facility administrators to balance the need to be a caring, welcoming environment and the need to increase protective measures that, in some cases, have led to a discussion about arming security officers in some locations.
There is no doubt violence in healthcare settings exists and is rising. The Joint Commission, for instance, has noted significant increases in assault, rape and homicide in hospital settings from 2006 to 2009. More recently, a report from Johns Hopkins Office of Critical Event Preparedness and Response, “Hospital-Based Shootings in the United States: 2000 to 2011,” also revealed “an increase in hospital-related shootings in the last few years, but all of the increase can be attributed to shootings outside the hospital itself.”