Outpatient Surgery Magazine, providing current information on Surgical Services, Surgical Facility Administration, Outpatient Surgery News and Trends, OR Excellence and more.
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fall prevention and safe patient handling. For all of these efforts and more, the center wins this year's OR Excellence Award in Staff Safety. Preparing for active threats The center kicked off its recent staff safety initiatives by creating a policy for dealing with armed intruders. "Developing a plan for active threats and conducting drills is the most powerful initiative we have taken on in the last year," says Ms. Groven. "With work- place violence in the news more and more, we felt it was imperative to take on the daunting task of creating a plan to reduce the opportunities for violence, and educate staff so they are prepared, should an event take place." The center first turned to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's recom- mendations to create a policy on armed intruders. It then had a local police group review the policy to ensure it was realistic and would work appropriately in case of an emergency. The center also had an officer tour the facility to help identify any security gaps. "As a result of that assessment, addi- tional locks were added to rooms to make them secure," says Ms. Groven. "All secure, lockable spaces were labeled with an orange dot to make them easy to locate in the event S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 6 • O U T PA T I E N TS U R G E R Y. N E T • 6 7 Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Bonita Springs, Fla. Oct. 12-14, 2016 An Armed Assailant in Your Surgical Facility Find out what you can do to protect your staff at OR Excellence next month. Could your facility handle the horror the Good Shepherd Ambulatory Surgical Center in Longview, Texas, experi- enced a few years ago? The son of an endoscopy patient emerged from the men's room with a knife and went on a 30-second stabbing rampage, killing 2 people, includ- ing a PACU nurse. Beth Chrismer, MSN, RN, the facility's executive director of risk man- agement, will provide a firsthand account, and explain what kinds of practical security measures you should consider at your facil- ity. Register now at orexcel- lence.com to see Ms. Chrismer and our other great speakers, Oct. 12-14 at the Hyatt Regency Coconut Point Resort and Spa in Bonita Springs, Fla. Beth Chrismer, MSN, RN