South Carolina hospital shootings spur other facilities to review safety plans

Healthcare facilities in South Carolina are reviewing emergency plans after two hospital shootings occurred in the state last week, according to NBC affiliate WCBD-TV.

The shootings occurred at the Regional Medical Center-Orangeburg (S.C.) on April 10 and Clinton, S.C.-based Laurens County Memorial Hospital on April 11. In total, three people were injured.

Michael Puckett, director of emergency management for Florence, S.C.-based McLeod Health, said system leaders met with security teams and emergency room staff to review emergency plans after the shootings.

"We have heightened alertness and awareness to everybody," he told WCBD-TV.

The shootings have also renewed calls for stricter legislation to protect healthcare workers in the state. South Carolina is one of only three states that does not have an enhanced penalty for violence against healthcare workers, according to a 2016 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

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