Daily Situational Awareness Brief June 26, 2014

Daily Situational Awareness Brief

June 26, 2014
No active alerts

Day  
89°
Mostly Sunny
Mostly sunny, with a high near 89. North wind 9 to 13 mph.

Night  
65°
Partly Cloudy
Partly cloudy, with a low around 65. North wind 5 to 7 mph.
ASTHMA INDEX
2
UV INDEX
8

Standoff with gunman blocks access to hospital emergency department

A recent standoff between police and an armed man outside of a major trauma center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, serves as a reminder of the importance of lockdown drills and alternate plans for caring for patients in a security emergency.

On the morning of Friday, June 13, an injured man entered the emergency department (ED) of Saint Francis Hospital saying he had been shot by his father. Hospital security personnel found the father parked in his vehicle in the hospital's ambulance bay area. The man was armed and occasionally pointed the gun at himself during a three-hour standoff in which he was surrounded by law enforcement but refused to exit the vehicle. (Sources: KJRH 2 Tulsa, News On 6 Tulsa)

As this was occurring, the hospital followed lockdown procedures for its ED and adjacent areas. Although Saint Francis is a regional trauma center for northeastern Oklahoma, ambulances had to be diverted to other hospitals. The hospital was preparing to execute a plan to open access to its ED through an area on the opposite side of the facility when the gunman surrendered. Hospital officials said they were fortunate to have a lower-than-normal census for a Friday morning. (Sources: KJRH 2 Tulsa, News On 6 Tulsa)

Action Steps 
1) Review with all shifts procedures for responding to a threat outside of your facility that may pose a danger to those inside.
2) Consult this sample lockdown plan from the American College of Emergency Physicians, which defines procedures for various types of lockdowns commensurate with the level of threat.
3) Exercise scenarios in which your facility would have to divert patients to others during a security incident such as a lockdown of the ED.

Upcoming Events
THURSDAY

26
DC Jazz Festival
Several DC venues