In January 2016, NSW police officer Luke Warburton was shot while trying to protect at doctor at Nepean Hospital.
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He had been trying to assist the female doctor who was being held by a man who had put scissors to her throat.
During a scuffle that followed, Sergeant Warburton was shot with his own gun. A security guard was also injured.
It is pretty likely that had he not been in a hospital emergency room, Sergeant Warburton would have died.
In fact, he was so sure he would die, he even called his wife to say goodbye.
The dog squad officer had since had 14 surgeries on his leg and was able to return to work, at least part-time.
Perhaps, the case involving Sergeant Warburton is unusual because of the high degree of injury, but sadly violence in hospital emergency departments is both common and increasing.
Jeremy Fry, the co-director of emergency medicine at Wagga Base Hospital, told me this week that incidents are an almost-daily occurrence in the emergency department.
He said mental health issues, along with drugs and alcohol, played a significant role in the escalating problem.
Most of us have paid a least one visit to the ED over the years, so we know how busy it is and how serious some of the patients’ conditions could be.
The reality of dealing with seriously ill patients is that sometimes critical decisions are going to need to be made quickly and the consequences can be, quite literally, life or death.
Given the high-stress nature of this role, it is appalling that these dedicated health workers are also going to work each day to face the prospect of being attacked by someone they are trying to help.
The nature of some circumstances that bring people to an emergency department means we probably won’t ever entirely eliminate the risks, but we do have to look at just what measures are in place to protect ED staff and how they can be improved.
With that in mind, the announcement by Health Minister Brad Hazzard of a new security review at NSW hospitals is welcome news.
Given the high-stress nature of this role, it is appalling that these dedicated health workers are also going to work each day to face the prospect of being attacked by someone they are trying to help.
The review will be headed by former Labor health and police minister, Peter Anderson, who is also a former police officer, and for eight years was professor and director of the Centre for Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism at Macquarie University.
The Minister said that while the state government had done a great deal in recent years to improve security, he had asked Mr Anderson to look for any shortfalls.
The review will appraise a 12-point plan on hospital security, put in place in 2016. It will also consider any additional statewide strategies to improve security.
“If Mr Anderson finds gaps in the current approach or comes up with new ideas the NSW Government will take the opportunity to make our hospitals even more secure,” Mr Hazzard said.
The security review is a great idea, and full marks to Mr Hazzard for ordering it.
But – and it’s a hefty but – the kudos is going to be rescinded quick smart if that review is completed and then just, sort of, allowed to,maybe, kinda just, then waft around and drift between ministerial in-trays.
A review is only half of the process. Implementing change is a necessary second step.
In recent years, the government has spent $19 million on security in emergency rooms, including upgrading CCTV systems and installing remote locking, and another $5 million on personal; alarms for staff.
At Wagga Base Hospital, $3.7 million has been spent on hospital security since 2015, and security officers rostered on both day and night.
We hear a lot about the ice epidemic and how this drug, ahead of many others, seems to result in violent acts by those who affected by it.
So, it would seem we are now fighting a war on two fronts.
We are trying to stop people taking the illegal drugs that seem to be more likely to result in violence, while at the same time trying to minimise the damage being caused by those who have already ingested them.
As we continue to fight the “war on drugs”, people are going to get caught in the crossfire.