From preparing for superstorms and guarding against a terrorist attack to thwarting cyber-thieves trying to hack into patient records, hospitals have a lot of security-related concerns today. But perhaps the most worrisome threat of them all comes in the form of an armed and unpredictable assailant who can unleash sudden, unspeakable violence in your facility: an active shooter, defined by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as an individual actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a confined and populated area, typically through the use of firearms.
Make no mistake—active shooter incidents are on the rise across America. Between 2000 and 2006, these incidents occurred around six times annually but increased to 16.4 times a year between 2007 and 2013. Within hospitals, these horrific events (called a "code silver") now happen at a frequency of more than one a month; in fact, one study found that there were 154 shootings in hospital settings and 235 victims (20 percent of whom were hospital employees) either killed or injured from 2000 through 2011. Within that span, 29 percent occurred in the ED, 19 percent in patient rooms, 41 percent on hospital grounds, and 23 percent in the parking lot.
Make no mistake—active shooter incidents are on the rise across America. Between 2000 and 2006, these incidents occurred around six times annually but increased to 16.4 times a year between 2007 and 2013. Within hospitals, these horrific events (called a "code silver") now happen at a frequency of more than one a month; in fact, one study found that there were 154 shootings in hospital settings and 235 victims (20 percent of whom were hospital employees) either killed or injured from 2000 through 2011. Within that span, 29 percent occurred in the ED, 19 percent in patient rooms, 41 percent on hospital grounds, and 23 percent in the parking lot.
I covered this topic in a recent story for The Joint Commission's EC News newsletter, read by hospital administrators. Click here to access the article.
