Three unrelated lockdowns at hospitals in Florida, North Carolina and Virginia this weekend underscore the continued threat of violence in hospitals.
Workplace violence is four times more likely to occur in healthcare settings than any other work environment, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Violence in hospitals has become so common that 80 percent of emergency medical workers reported experiencing physical violence at work, according to a review article published in The New England Journal of Medicine.
1. AdventHealth East Orlando (Fla.) went on lockdown in the early hours of Dec. 30 after a shooting in an attempted robbery at a nearby residence, according to local News 6. Two victims came to the hospital in an Acura that had been seen fleeing the crime scene. The gunman has not been identified, and the hospital remains on lockdown amid an investigation, according to the report.
2. Cape Fear Valley Medical Center in Fayetteville, N.C., went on lockdown around 8 p.m. Dec. 29 after a person threatened to harm hospital staff, according to ABC 11. Emergency and ambulance operations continued as usual, and security was allowing visitors as of 7:40 a.m. Dec. 30, according to the report.
3. Sentara Leigh Hospital in Norfolk, Va., was on lockdown Dec. 29 after a patient's family member received a death threat by phone around 8 a.m., according to 13News Now, the local ABC News affiliate. The hospital called police and was able to update its status to "perimeter lockdown" by noon, which involved enhanced screening and security measures at hospital entrances. Sentara is reassessing the threat Dec. 30, according to the report.
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