title: Hospital security: strengthening the weakest link--forensic patients.
abstract: In this article, reprinted with permission from CorrectionsOne.com, the online resource for the Corrections community, the author focuses on the responsibility of the hospital, its security department, and its healthcare staff when a forensic prisoner is brought in for treatment. Hospitals are responsible for all of their patients, he says, and as such, have every right to ask how much of a danger a given patient presents to their facility, and whether they should insist on a higher level of security. To avoid the tragic occurrences which have all to often taken place when forensic prisoners try to escape, hospitals should require their own security department to liaison with all agencies that maintain custody of patients inside their facility in order to assess any related security risks--and offer appropriate support. Even unarmed healthcare security personnel need to receive training in weapons retention and control, and all healthcare staff should be versed in tactical awareness.
authors.affiliation: Training Program in Violence Awareness, Prevention, and Management, Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, USA.
authors.forename: Joel
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lashley
mesh_terms: D006739:Hospital Administration; D006801:Humans; D011329:Prisoners; D012637:Security Measures