‘How Safe Is Your Campus?’ Survey Results: Hospitals

Active shooters/bombers, as well as public safety staff and weapons shortages pose big challenges for U.S. healthcare facilities.

November 08, 2010 Robin Hattersley

Note: This is the third installment of exclusive research featured in the Campus Safety Yearbook. Results for universities and K-12 campuses, as well as technology and officer salaries will be released on CampusSafetyMagazine.com throughout the month of November.

Probably the most troubling statistic of the entire “How Safe Is Your Campus” survey involves hospitals and their inability to respond to active shooters and bombers. A whopping 40 percent of hospital respondents disagree somewhat (21 percent) or strongly (19 percent) with the statement: “If an active shooter or bomber came onto my campus, my department and my institution would be able to respond effectively.”

Weapons, Staffing Shortages Are Major Concerns

This data correlates with hospital respondents’ concerns about weapons: 44 percent say they don’t have enough and the right type of lethal and less lethal weapons.

View “How Safe Is Your Campus” Survey Results: Hospitals

Staffing data also correlate with the active shooter/bomber and weapons statistics. More than two in five hospital respondents (41 percent) disagree somewhat or strongly with the statement: “My department has enough staff to respond appropriately to incidents.”

Fortunately, a significant majority of hospital respondents say their institutions have developed good relationships with their surrounding communities and other jurisdictions. Hopefully, these relationships can offset some of the weaknesses described in the other categories.

Administrators Support Hospital Security

Almost four in five (79 percent) of hospital survey takers say that their top administrators take campus safety and security seriously. Nearly three quarters (74 percent) of hospital respondents say they have enough authority to do their jobs well. More than three in four expect the same or more resources will be dedicated to safety and security in 2011.

Hospital respondents are also overwhelmingly confident in their institutions’ emergency management programs. At least 80 percent expressed strong or some satisfaction with all four categories in the survey (plans, weather/natural disasters, hazmat and pandemic flu).

View “How Safe Is Your Campus” Survey Results: Hospitals

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About the Author

Robin Hattersley, Editor-in-Chief

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Robin has been covering the security and campus law enforcement industries since 1998 and is a specialist in school, university and hospital security, public safety and emergency management, as well as emerging technologies and systems integration. She joined CS in 2005 and has authored award-winning editorial on campus law enforcement and security funding, officer recruitment and retention, access control, IP video, network integration, event management, crime trends, the Clery Act, Title IX compliance, sexual assault, dating abuse, emergency communications, incident management software and more. Robin has been featured on national and local media outlets and was formerly associate editor for the trade publication Security Sales & Integration. She obtained her undergraduate degree in history from California State University, Long Beach.