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How’s this for an ill-conceived emergency preparedness drill? An off-duty cop pretending to be a terrorist stormed into a hospital intensive care unit brandishing a handgun, which he pointed at nurses while herding them down a corridor and into a room.

There, after harrowing moments, he explained that the whole caper was a training exercise.
...

Just last year, Henderson police shot and killed an armed, hostile man in the emergency room. ...

Andy North, director of public policy and external affairs for the hospital, apologized for any distress caused by the incident....He said as many as 10 employees were involved in the incident and no one was hurt. The actor was from a local police department, North said.

More at the link.

Had this cop been shot by a CHL holder (and this was Nevada, which does have CHL) I would have had scant sympathy for him. He was not "pretending to be a terrorist," he was a terrorist. The cop should be prosecuted, especially if it turns out he was using an actual pistol and not a training dummy version (which would not surprise me in the least.)

And whoever thought up this plan and/or knew about it and allowed it to be executed needs to not have a job at this hospital any more. The hospital director should be fired whether he or she knew about it in advance or not.

So far, when I have been in an ER, it has been because my wife has a chronic illness that sometimes needs urgent care. Had this clown waived his gun any where in her vicinity I would not have hesitated to put 14 rounds into him. I am not generally a fan of unions, but I hope the nurses' union thoroughly thrashes the hospital administration over this.

Just what someone in intensive care following a heart attack needs to wake up and see ...

Hospital employees would have been justified in fearing for their lives.
“There are significant safety issues here,” Ruiz said. “We would never condone a drill like this. We put the safety of the patients and nurses and hospital staff first and foremost.”
Ruiz said the union is investigating the incident. Many people saw the gunman, she said, and the union is gathering statements and talking to hospital administrators.

I smell lawyers circling overhead...

The really scary part is the person who was suffering from some kind of degenerative brain disease when this little drama was conceived might also be making decisions on patient care
I spent some time in a hospital during training and nurses have to keep their wits about them to avoid making possibly fatal medication errors. I would not have wanted to be a patient there after those nurses were scared silly.

TexasGal wrote:I spent some time in a hospital during training and nurses have to keep their wits about them to avoid making possibly fatal medication errors. I would not have wanted to be a patient there after those nurses were scared silly.

Just imagine the liability if one of them, startled by the gunman, ran a needle right through the target depth and did some real damage, or snipped into the patient while cutting off a bandage.

Considering it was in the ICU, a reflexive jerk at the wrong time could have ripped out all sorts of vital tubes and/or wires.

The geniuses here ran a baby-snatch drill, complete with simulated armed security response, (they don't have armed security, so they used a couple of off duty deputies, but out of uniform and using Airsoft guns) which ended up outside the west doors, without telling the local PD, which happens to be just across the intersection at the southwest corner of the hospital. That actually came fairly close to getting messy when the police responded to the non-uniformed guy holding a woman with a (fake) baby at (fake) gunpoint.

Was this recent? I seem to remember something similar coming up on THR.org a while back.

MechAg94 wrote:Was this recent? I seem to remember something similar coming up on THR.org a while back.

If you are referring to Las Vegas incident (versus the "babysnatch drill"), the article was written on 29 May and say the incident took place the previous Monday which would be 24 May.

I have some thoughts on this "event"

Did the officer's agency know about this drill and did they approve?

I can not imagine in my wildest dreams this was an agency approved action. I was a Lieutenant for 13 years and if one of my guys had come to me requesting approval to participate in something like this I would asked them if they were on drugs.

Smokey613 wrote:I have some thoughts on this "event"

Did the officer's agency know about this drill and did they approve?

I can not imagine in my wildest dreams this was an agency approved action. I was a Lieutenant for 13 years and if one of my guys had come to me requesting approval to participate in something like this I would asked them if they were on drugs.

Good question. I searched, but haven't seen any updates to this story.

ELB wrote: If you are referring to Las Vegas incident (versus the "babysnatch drill"), the article was written on 29 May and say the incident took place the previous Monday which would be 24 May.

My wife is an OB RN of over 15 years. I would not, even with a small army, attempt a baby snatching from an OB ward. Those women aren't armed, but every single one of them would rather die than let a baby get taken, and any fool that dares try ("unannounced drill" or otherwise) is liable to be savagely injured, if not rapidly terminated by multiple injections of massive amounts of epinephrine using VERY long needles. It would NOT be a pretty sight.

lkd wrote:My wife is an OB RN of over 15 years. I would not, even with a small army, attempt a baby snatching from an OB ward. Those women aren't armed, but every single one of them would rather die than let a baby get taken, and any fool that dares try ("unannounced drill" or otherwise) is liable to be savagely injured, if not rapidly terminated by multiple injections of massive amounts of epinephrine using VERY long needles. It would NOT be a pretty sight.

I could easily imagine something like starting a lawnmower, involving a hastily inserted Foley catheter.

KD5NRH wrote:

lkd wrote:My wife is an OB RN of over 15 years. I would not, even with a small army, attempt a baby snatching from an OB ward. Those women aren't armed, but every single one of them would rather die than let a baby get taken, and any fool that dares try ("unannounced drill" or otherwise) is liable to be savagely injured, if not rapidly terminated by multiple injections of massive amounts of epinephrine using VERY long needles. It would NOT be a pretty sight.

I could easily imagine something like starting a lawnmower, involving a hastily inserted Foley catheter.

Ok,

OUCH!!!

What gets me is that the assumption by the conducting organization assumes that an unannounced "drill" is somehow going to remind people in that facility how vunerable they are???

What is (or was) the expected reaction to this "drill"???

What were they really supposed to learn...

If there were enough of us who carried in a facility like that, legally, or illegally, can you imagine the tragedy of a reaction by a CHL in a situation like that...

Imagine if they tried to do this in the parks in Williamson County Tennessee, where it is illegal to carry in those parks in that county, but you know someone will anyway...

Yep...This is a case of stupid vs. stupid...Two negatives are definitely not going to make a positive...

Unbelievable. Kind of a side note, there was a show on SciFi where they would set up some elaborate scenario, maniac killers and all that. My wife noted they never do those in Texas. I said, "Well, YEAH."

I like that it says that it MAY warrant investigation!

II have worked in an ER as a Paramedic before and if something like this were to have occurred, it would be bad news. I have shared this story with many and they have all been in awe! The agency, office, hospital administration and whomever else was involved really need to be reprimanded for this!