Several traumatic, violent incidents at Houston-based Ben Taub Hospital during the past four years have led officials to develop new security measures to protect staff and patients, Click 2 Houston reports.
Ben Taub Hospital has seen its share of violence toward patients or staff at the facility during the past few years. In 2014, a female pharmacy employee was killed by a colleague, who later killed himself, and a medical student was taken hostage at the facility by a patient in 2016.
In 2017, reports of a shooting that later turned out to be false were the last straw for hospital leaders, who sought to create a new plan and response protocol for violence at the the facility.
While the typical protocol for active shooting incidents is to "run, hide, fight," hospital officials opted to alter their preparedness plan to "secure, run, hide, fight," the report states.
"We have discussed often the frustration of this dichotomy of protecting ourselves and our families and protecting our patients who are not able to protect themselves," Kenneth Mattox, MD, chief of staff and surgeon-in-chief at Ben Taub Hospital, told Click 2 Houston.
"We really can't abandon our patients that are in the operating room, delivering a baby or in the emergency room that are in the intensive care unit. So, we added the concept of securing areas before one does run, hide and fight," he added.
Under the new policy, staff will stay with patients during violent incidents, Dr. Mattox said. He also said hospital officials are working with law enforcement to establish safe areas in the hospital that the FBI, SWAT and police will guard and protect first.
To access the full report, click here.