Brigham And Women's Teaches Workers How To Handle Gunman In The Hospital
BOSTON (CBS) - It's a startling new employee training video that shows a man storming into a hospital waiting room, pulling out a gun, and demanding to see a doctor. Employees at Brigham and Women's Hospital watched it Friday to learn how to take on an armed intruder.
"It seems like an every other day occurrence now, so we need to make sure we're prepared in the unlikely event," said the hospital's Security Director Robert Cicharello.
The training comes in the wake of two shootings in the last week...at a New Jersey shopping mall, and at the Los Angeles Airport. Brigham and Women's Emergency Management Director Barry Wante said hospitals are vulnerable because they are open to the public, and full of people healing from sicknesses and injuries. "A hospital needs to remain a welcoming environment," he said.
Last July, gunshots went off in the ER waiting room at Mass Eye and ear Infirmary. A sheriff's deputy and a prisoner-patient both suffered gunshot wounds.
"After the marathon bombings and all the shootings that have been happening recently, unfortunately it's very real," said Brigham and Women's Hospital ER nurse Amanda Berger. The 10 minute training video she and other employees watched instructs them to run first. If they can't, they're told to hide and lock-down in a room. Finally, as a last resort, they're told to fight however they can.
"If we start talking about it, people start thinking about their environment," said employee Andrew Madden after watching it. "Hopefully we can protect ourselves if it does happen."
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