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Preventing Violence in the Emergency Department
It is no surprise to often find the Emergency Department (ED) filled to overflowing and patients continue to pour through the doors. In addition to the heart attacks and sports injuries, gunshots, stabbings, domestic assaults, and vehicle collision injuries are common in many ED’s. The significant increase in behavioral health patients who present to the ED combined with a lack of resources to care for these patients is a national crisis. According to Rebecca Parker, MD, FACEP, "The severe shortage of psychiatric beds in almost all hospitals and intensive outpatient resources is leaving these behavioral health patients stranded for hours and even days." Environmental triggers within the ED or hospital can contribute to acts of violence by patients who are frustrated or angry. Physical and psychological triggers can also contribute to acts of violence by patients who are frustrated or angry. These patients can pose risks relating to self-harm or violence towards others. Join in the discussion and learn what leading practice organizations are doing to address the issue.
Learning Objective 1:
Individuals living with mental illness are no more likely than a member of the general population to commit a violent act. They are more often a victim of a crime than a member of the general population. Learn why we continue to observe violence being perpetrated by this patient population.
Learning Objective 2:
We will discuss how the OSHA and IAHSS Security Physical Design Guidelines provide an excellent overview plan for building or renovating space in the ED and other related areas which will serve to minimize the environmental triggers.
Learning Objective 3:
Learn how to build a program for behavioral health patient-associated violence management to better identify, assess, validate, mitigate and respond.
Speaker: Lisa Terry, CHPA, CPP - Allied Universal Security Services
Lisa Terry, CHPA, CPP has significant experience in healthcare security and police management. Lisa currently serves as the Vice President, Vertical Markets – Healthcare for Allied Universal®. Prior to that she served as Director of Hospital Police and Transportation at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
Lisa has served as the Chief of Campus Police and Public Safety with WakeMed Health and Hospitals in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Chief of Police and Public Safety with Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, Virginia.
As a former president and an active guidelines council member of IAHSS, and as a vice chair of the Healthcare Community Steering Committee of the industry leading organization ASIS International, Lisa has been fortunate to collaborate with some of the country’s greatest minds in healthcare, security, and policing. She shares her knowledge, strategies, and lessons learned for successfully preventing and mitigating violence in her books: “Preventing Violence in the Emergency Department” and “The Active Shooter Response Toolkit for Healthcare Workers.”
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