Insights

Gather Your Resources: Start With What You Already Know Before looking outside the hospital, begin with what is already inside the organization. Hospitals usually have far more useful risk information than they realize. The problem is that it may be scattered across departments, buried in reports, sitting in corrective action plans, or living in the memories of people who managed previous emergencies. The HVA committee’s first responsibility is to bring that information toget

After selecting the HVA committee, the next step is choosing the risk assessment tool the group will use. This decision deserves more attention than it often receives. The tool is not simply a spreadsheet used to record the committee’s conclusions. It influences the questions the committee asks, the factors it considers, and ultimately how the organization understands and prioritizes risk. In other words, the tool shapes the conversation. If the assessment only asks, “How lik

The HVA starts with the People. Not the Form

The Hazard Vulnerability Analysis is more than a form or an annual requirement. It is one of the foundation documents of a hospital’s emergency management program. When completed realistically, the HVA helps an organization identify: • Which hazards are most likely to occur • Which could create the greatest operational disruption • Where the hospital may be less prepared than it believes • Which failure points need attention before an emergency occurs The value of the HVA is

Security programs are often judged by how well they respond when something goes wrong. Response matters and hospitals must be ready to manage violence, threats, access control concerns, emergency codes, investigations, visitor issues, disruptive behavior, and requests for staff assistance. But the most effective programs are also built around what happens before the call is made. Before a call is needed. In healthcare, public safety is not separate from patient care. It prote

How hospitals can manage unverified threats, protect people, and prevent false reports from driving the response. A recent article in Becker’s Hospital Review highlighted a troubling issue for healthcare leaders: hospitals are facing an increase in swatting calls. The article pointed to recent incidents in Wisconsin, including threats involving Marshfield Medical Center and Emplify Health by Gundersen, and outlined why swatting creates risk for hospitals, staff, patients, law

I think they may have. Not because Pink Floyd set out to write a song about hospitals, patient care, or workplace violence prevention. They didn’t. But when you listen to Comfortably Numb, especially the opening lines, it is hard not to hear something familiar to healthcare: Hello?Is there anybody in there?Just nod if you can hear me.Is there anyone at home? That is more than a lyric. That is first contact. And first contact matters more than most people realize. At the heart