In the wake of the stabbing of a doctor and an attempted sexual assault that occurred at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) facilities in October, Boston area hospital officials met with city police in early November to determine how law enforcement and campus public safety officers can work together to improve security.
Hospital security staff will be trained at the police academy to contact Boston police when an incident occurs, keep witnesses at the scene and be effective witnesses themselves, according to WHDH.com.
MGH was already discussing with local law enforcement ways the hospital’s security officers could participate in active shooter training. The urgency of the meetings became greater, however, after the October attacks, MGH Director of Police, Security and Outside Services Bonnie Michelman explained to Campus Safety magazine.
In response to the incidents, she and her department are also conducting risk assessments to see if they need to change their systems or upgrade the security technologies they currently have installed, Michelman added.
“These incidents are extraordinarily rare here,” she said. “We’ve had two major incidents in over 30 years. With any even minor incident, we do a complete analysis to see if anything could have been done differently. We’ve done that with this.”
The bigger challenge was managing the media, said Michelman. “That was the hard part,” she said. “The media didn’t always portray everything accurately. Getting the right information out to people as quickly as possible is really important. People hear about it on the news, and they want to know we’re on top of it and that it’s safe.”
The efforts to disseminate correct information involved increasing her department’s visibility, going to staff meetings and reminding everyone of the steps they can take to stay safe.
“We try to make sure people are aware of the multi-dimensional program we have in place, the proactive systems and training programs we offer, our crime prevention programs and diverse patrol methodologies. We try to get people to take advantage of all of those more often.”
An off-duty officer shot and killed an enraged, mentally ill man on Oct. 27, after the man lunged at a doctor and began stabbing her. The district attorney has said the officer’s actions saved other lives.
A week earlier, a registered sex offender attacked a hospital employee in a bathroom and was later arrested.For additional information, click here.
