The Forgotten Blue Line

Done? Driving RNs Crazy for 5 years and Still Going

2008-07-27T14:45:00.002-05:00

It has been quit a break in writting for me, but trust, I haven't been sitting back with my feet up. The supervisor of our department left for more money and less work at another hospital (poor bastard). So they promoted yours trully to run the department as well as emergency management for Maryland. So they locked me in a office and piled a bunch of paper work in front of me. They forgot how ever to take the radio away from me so when ever something pops up, I knock everything over and go to the fun.

In the past couple months we have had psychotic patients try to stab nurses in the face, throw computer screens at pregnant people, and of course I love my drunks who think it's a great idea to grope the RNs of the E.R. With my new title I at least get to address the issues with the CEO/President and all the Vice Presidents. Made some changes, but not enough to make it a safer place for the staff.

I have to wait for one of them to get hurt and they call a meeting and I say I told you so, now give me the money to un-screw this up (yes, I talk to them like this....when I know I am right). I never knew how boring paper work was, but it is important to make it a safer work environment.

This will probably be one of the last posts I will make. Paper work, legal suits, and ethics issues are not as interesting on paper. Yes, I know I will miss all the pissed nurses who leave angry comments (which I actually love reading) I have a lot on my plate. Between school, morgue attendant (bet you didn't know I did that too), being a active member of the Freemasons, York Rite, and work there is hardly time to write down my thoughts. I thank all those who have sent me supportive emails which I have needed at times.

Flashlight 1

New Post after a long Vacation

2008-01-25T17:31:00.000-05:00

I thought I would write a new post. I have put my writing on the back burner for a while now. In the past several months you know a lot has happened at the hospital and I will go ahead and start writing new stories. Here is something from a recent incident;

I was sitting back watching our cameras when I received a call from the emergency room. The nurse told me that a hysterical women had just called. The women stated that her husband had pulled into the parking lot and started having a heart attack while on the phone with her. The nurse asked me if I could locate the vehicle, no problem at least I thought.

Well the man had driven up to the front of the E.R entrance. The door was ajar and he was hanging out the door. I called for help and of course no one came, read my stories there is a pattern here. I went to check his pulse and there was none, but his chest was going up and down. So for the hell of it I leaned his car seat back and started compressions while trying to call for help on my radio.

The nurses decided to send someone from registration to see why I kept yelling code blue. When the registration girl who has less training than me came out I got a pulse, faint, but it was there. I told the registration girl to get help (actually at this point I was cursing like a sailor). The triage nurse finally arrived to give a helping hand.

We got this large man out of his vehicle and onto a stretcher and an EMT came over to lend a hand. While we were moving him we managed to drop him on my left leg. They took over compressions because in the transfer his heart stopped again. We wheeled him into the emergency room where he was pronounced dead.

As I walked out of the emergency room slightly pissed off, lack of a better term, the new widow just came in and guess who got to play counselor next. So I took her to a private room and sat her down with the doctor. She was upset with the person that found her husband because when she hung up the phone he was alive. He had no history of heart attacks, lived healthy, and was rarely ever sick. I did not have the heart to tell her that person was me.

Flashlight 1

Time for a Break and a Secret Revealed

2007-07-06T22:52:00.000-05:00

I have not been posting much at all lately as some of you have noticed. That being said I have decided to take a break from my blog. I am currently enrolled in college with criminal justice as my major and I am taking 15 credits. I have also become a Freemason and that has taken some of my time. There is a lot to learn and remember because Masons do not write anything down. The rest of my time I am working 48-56 hours a week at the hospital. I have little to no down time and free time is spent at my lodge, working, or doing school work. I appreciate everyone who reads my blog and those who take the time to leave comments.

I am not saying I am done for good with blogging, but I am very overwhelmed at the moment. There is one thing I have to say before I leave. I have to thank Mother Jones at Nurse Ratched's Place for getting me into blogging. If you go back and read mine and her blogs you may be able to figure out that we actually work in the same in hospital! I have worked with MJ for over a year now and she was the one who got me into blogging. Anyways thanks to all and I hope to be back soon. Please feel free to go back over the old stories and enjoy.

Flashlight 1

New Doctor on the Block

2007-06-26T22:31:00.000-05:00

Well we have a new psych doctor to our hospital. There was promises that things would get better because this doc unlike the last was really dedicated. In the last several months we have had a lot of problems on our psych ward, as you can tell by my posts. The nurses were pulling their hair out and we have been having to restrain a lot more patients and administration frowns on that. The old psych doctor has decided to practice elsewhere (trust me he needs to) and they brought in a very popular doc.

Upon the new doctors arrival we had a patient starting to act out. The nurse immediately recognized this acting out to be sun downers syndrome. As the day wore on the patient was growing more and more agitated and psychotic. The counselor started talking to the patient while the RN paged the doctor. The counselor and I were able to talk the patient down, at least we thought.

After 8 hours of paging the Doctor and no response things went down hill. I was patrolling when the RN called over the radio for help. My partner and I took off in a sprint and hit the door like a ton of bricks. When we got down the hallway we found the counselor and RN pinning the patient to the ground. The RN stated that the patient had hit her in the mouth. I called over the radio for a code green (emergency response team needed). What we didn't know was that our operators handling the radio were idiots.

The operator asked if we were going to go to the scene. I told her I was already there. She called no one for help. The RN had to get to the phone to call the clinical coordinator (house supervisor) and he called for assistance. We got the patient into the "quite room" and put her in 3 point restraints. The clinical coordinator checked out the RN and we started documenting. After the incident the clinical coordinator got a hold of the doctor and the new doc got his ass chewed.

The doctor has not been returning pages for the last couple weeks. He claimed that the RN was incompetent and mixed up the last two numbers on the pager. I checked into it and the numbers were indeed correct and the doctor was lying. Now he is saying that the pager the hospital gave him is junk, so he is using his own personal pager. Well now he not answering that one either. I have made a complaint to administration because we are being tied up on the psych unit. The nurses are not aloud to do really anything without doc's permission. The guy is going to get someone killed.

Flashlight 1

He Has What???

2007-06-06T22:16:00.000-05:00

I had a very stressful yet educational day that involved diseases. In the middle of my shift we were called to report to one of the floors because of an agitated patient. Upon arrival the nurse was standing far away from the room which is normal when a patient is scarring staff. The nurse gave me the patient’s name and room number and asked me to talk to the patient about leaving the room. As my partner entered the room I noticed a yellow cart that holds all the PPE (personal protective equipment). The seal had been broken and a box of masks was on the floor and that’s when it hit me.

Right before we entered the nurse ran like hell away and I yelled, “Is all this stuff for him or for another room?” The nurse stopped and yelled back, “Oh yea I would definitely wear a gown, gloves, mask and shoe covers.” As she turned the corner she shouted what he had, but all I could make out were these few letters “MRVECDIF.” Not knowing what that was I stopped my partner and we got all the gear on, but we were not prepared for what was next.

When we walked in the entire room was covered in urine, feces, and some sticky stuff and no way can this stuff come from a human. The odor would have been an efficient wallpaper remover. Now I know why I had to wear the shoe coverings. Now in the middle of this mess was a 60 year old that had to weigh 90 pounds. On his stomach were a bandage with a tube and that weird sticky stuff was oozing out the sides. There was no way this guy could have been terrorizing the floor. I was coming to the conclusion the reason they did not want to deal with him was because of this “MRVECDIF.”

My partner started to discuss with the old man about staying in the room while I went to find his nurse. After searching the entire floor I had the secretary contact her on her companion phone. The nurse was hiding in an empty room, or in her words looking for supplies (room was not the supply room). I asked her why she wanted us to the floor since the guy posed no threat. She stated he was wondering the floor and what he had was highly contagious and it was visiting hours. I asked her to put the guy in seclusion, soft restraints, or at least a posey vest. The nurse said the doctor refused to do any of the above because the doctor would have to come in on his day off.

I went back to the room and the old guy was just sitting in his bed rubbing feces on the bed. Since there was no threat to others we left and I informed his nurse of what was happening. I also let housekeeping know what room to go to because no one should have to sit in a room like that especially with what ever “MRVECDIFF” is.

10 minutes later we were called back to his room, the nurse stated, “The patient was gearing up for something.” She was crying wolf, but I take all reports of threats seriously. Upon arrival the patient was just sitting there playing with his feces again. I called the nurse and told her she needed to order a sitter because I can not legally do anything to him. The nurse asked if I could stand by until they moved the patient next door to a new room. After 40 minutes of standing around and the patient playing in his feces I went to talk to the other nurse tending to the patient that was supposed to be moved. I asked her when she was moving her patient. She told me that her patient was not the problem patient so she was not moving her patient. I said that’s fine and we left the floor. I found the patient’s nurse and asked again what the patient had and she stopped and said lightening fast what sounded like, “MRVECDIFF.” It was almost like she was trying to hide the illness from us.

10 minutes later I get another call from the nurse yelling at me, she said this patient can not be left alone. I told her to order a sitter because the security department did not have the man power to watch patients, patrol several buildings, watch the parking lot, lock up doors, and respond to emergency calls. I returned to the floor to try and find a solution, but they did not want a solution, they wanted us to baby sit the non threatening guy. This went on for hours and finally they decided to move him into a private room and they wanted us to do it. We are not supposed to, but at this point we were both so mad we did the move ourselves. We just had to wait for our psych doctor to check the guy out.

Now earlier I had asked the guy if he knew where he was, what the date was, and asked him where he hurt. The old guy had all the answers; he was acting that way because he was just a jerk. So the doctor walked in and he was done in less than 5 minutes. The doctor came to the same conclusion I did. Now it was time to move the jerk to his new feces, urine, & sticky stuff free room. We covered a wheel chair with sheets wheeled him into his room. As we did that his nurse appeared out of the wood work and said, “Now grab some soap, a wash cloth and wash him. I told her hell no and walked off, that pushed me over the edge.

Basically the whole day the nurse was trying to dump this sick jerk off on us and the psych ward. When I went down stairs to write my report I wanted to know what the hell my partner and I have been exposed to. When I called back I spoke with the secretary because I was so damn mad at the nurse. The secretary finally deciphered the code after trying to figure out what was scaring the staff. What the nurse was yelling was, “He has “MRSA VRE and C DIFF.” I did not know what it was so I jumped on WEB MD.com and after I finished my reading I was slightly upset. It turns out that those things are in the sputum and he defecated and urinated everywhere.

I called our employee heath nurse at home and she said we would be fine as long as we didn’t rub it into any cuts or open sores. Also if we did get infected we would just be under observation and not given antibiotics. I went back to Web MD and it says if you have a drug resistant strain then no antibiotics would work. I called back to the floor and guess what it was a drug resistant strain. Both my partner and I are fine, but not very happy about the fast one the nurse pulled.

Flashlight 1

A Break Down in Communications

2007-06-01T10:36:00.000-05:00

Our emergency room had calmed for the night and my partners and I had settled in the office to take a much earned break. No more than a minute passes and our switchboard operators call over our radio stating, “Why aren’t you at the code blue on level 2”? We told them because they never called us. So we jumped up and ran to the second floor. Upon arrival staff was still arriving to this 35 year old crashing fast. There had been almost 10 minutes of down time for this patient who was coding for mysterious causes.

The security department responds to code blues for several reasons because we are all trained in basic life support, we move equipment out of the way to move the patient, lock down elevators, and crowd control. People visiting love to stand in the middle of hallways and door ways to watch the circus. They actually will argue with us stating they have a right to watch (still can’t find that one in the constitution). It seems when people code all the hospitals junk is parked in or around the room. We also get a set of all keys (weighs a ton) so we can also lock elevators and make them go directly to the floors we want. The last hospital I worked in the never wanted us jumping in and starting compressions, but this one realizes if we are the only ones there then we need to know what to do.

So after everything calmed down and the patient returned to us, damage unknown, and we got the patient into the ICU I went to our switchboard operators. I asked why the big break down in communications and the explanation dumfounded me. Our hospital has came up with so many acronyms and short terms that when level 2 wanted to call a code blue they ended up calling for the wrong team. Level 2 called down for a quick response team which also means code green for a combative patient. So instead of doctors; pharmacist, RNs, techs, and security you instead get plant operations, housekeeping, security, and the police get put on hold. Well when no one showed because our operators assumed everyone in the hospital had special pagers, we don’t only radios, the level 2 staff had to leave all patients to help this one.

I went to do a debrief session with our switchboard and nurses and figured a way to fix the problem. I understand the hospital wants to be cute with all these special names to hide codes, but now it could cause people to loose their life. They should stick with a basic code system that has worked for years and cut down on confusion. I know calling a code blue will attract crowds, but that’s why we show up. Medical staff needs to worry about patient care and let security worry about our job. I am glad to say the patient is doing alright and it turns out the patient had a hidden infection that did not show up in any tests. It was the first times in years where it felt like we in a medical television show like House or something.

Flashlight 1

A Bad Day

2007-05-29T19:12:00.000-05:00

Last week we had a very interesting incident at the hospital at least it started on campus and ended up in the middle of traffic. Let me start from the beginning, my partner and I received a call from the emergency room. A patient under emergency petition had run out of the emergency room and out into the parking lot. We had no description of the patient so I went into the ER to talk to the patient’s nurse; my partner went to our jeep I thought to get it ready. Now my partner for the day has been working in the hospital for 7 months, but this is the first week we have worked together. My other 2 partners had always known what to do in an elopement so what my partner did next confused me.

As I was heading outside towards the jeep I gave my partner the description over the radio. The second I step outside he started his pursuit of the patient alone. I started walking throughout the parking lot and when I was not able to locate the patient I called for my partner’s location. When he did not respond I became very worried and then the next thing I hear over the radio was my partner screaming, “Help, Help, I am being assaulted”!! I started running through out the parking lot and could not find him, and he would not answer the radio. I ran around the parking lot for 5-10 minutes with only hearing the occasional screaming on the radio.

Finally he called back asking me where I was, I told him that his location was more important. He told me he had rolled out into the median of major highway. It was 5pm and rush hour was on and I started running across the freeway trying my best not to get run over. When I got to my partner an off duty deputy was standing by as my partner pinned the psych patient down. My partner’s face was bleeding and he had a cut on his lip. The patient started kicking so I jumped on the legs and we lay on top until police assistance could arrive.

When the state police and sheriff deputy arrived the started to put handcuffs on the patient and of course the patient started fighting. The deputy told the patient that he will break her wrists if she fought and the patient said they will break his face. The patient was cuffed and loaded back into an ambulance, I got on the ambulance to watch the patient.

When we arrived back into the ER the staff was more worried about the patient and completely ignored my bleeding partner. Finally my partner started yelling, “I just got my ass whooped and no one is helping me.” The ER doc told him to take a seat and they will get to him. Our employee health doctor was passing by and told my partner, “Oh just wipe the blood off and you will be fine,” no tetanus shots or anything.

It turned out that the patient had no psych problems, but was on high on PCP. I tried to explain to my partner that we never go after people alone for this reason. He told me I should have been there, but at no time did he ever give me his location and when he finally did I was there in a second. Even though it was at the end of the incident I was still there.

Our switchboard operators received 75 phone calls from people driving home from work. The calls reports ranged from dead bodies on the side of the road to a security officer beating a patient on the road. The 911 operators said they received several calls stating that a security officer was beating someone up and the security officer is dead in the median. The situation never got that far and never should have, but it did and I hope he learns from this.

Flashlight 1

Certified Instructor

2007-05-21T11:36:00.000-05:00

This week my hospital sent me to Baltimore to become a Crisis Prevention and Intervention instructor. The course was for 4 days in a decent hotel in the middle of a ghetto. I used map quest to get directions which turned out to be a bad idea, I almost ended up in New York. Now nothing against New York, it is just my hospital spent a lot of money for me to be there and I think they will become slightly peeved if I didn’t show. When I finally arrived I walked into a very familiar setting. The hotel security was arguing with the front desk about whose’ job was what.

After the hotel manager and security director broke up the argument I got my room key and went back to my vehicle to get my bags. The reason I didn’t bring them in the first place because I wasn’t sure if map quest gave me the right hotel. So as I dodge drunks asking for money I got to my room, locked the door, and hid my valuables in my safe.

The next day it was time to head down for free chow which was great and then over to the conference room for registration. While we started introducing ourselves the conference next door was roaring throughout the area. There was a diversity conference going on and all the speakers were comedians. The only thing that separated us and them was a thin patrician covered in carpet. This went on for 3 of the 4 days and my ears hurt from listening to our instructors scream.

Now I do not know if any of you have taken CPI most in hospitals have, but there is a part in the training where you have to get physical. They not only teach different holds, but ways to escort adults and kids. Well after that the people there just for basic certifications took their tests and left. Now it was time for us not only learn how to teach the moves, we had to know how to do it in real time. Well I have been doing security for a while and in the past taken the CPI course, but for everyone else in the instructor course this will be there first time. They paired me up with 2 six foot 8 three hundred pound guys. They threw my butt around for 2 days and at the end my back and ankles hurt like hell. I was bounced off walls, tossed to the ground, and stepped on a few times. One of the instructors was this tiny little nimble thing and when people said, “That doesn’t work” she would show them. She smacked a couple guys in their happy zone and dropped the big guys who thought they were invincible.

The last day we had to teach a portion in front of everyone. I speak in front of people all the time and deal with high stress situations daily, but I was still nervous. Not only did we have to teach we had to take a long test. When it came time for me to teach I shocked everyone. I am younger than 23 years old and was the youngest in my class so for me to know me stuff shocked and impressed the class and the instructors. I passed the teaching portion and all that was left was this test.

When it came time to take it all the information came rushing back into my head. The test was extremely easy and after that I got my instructor pin, teaching binder, and a first class kit.I look forward to teaching my first class when I get back. I have my own style and I hope I don’t bore the class to death. After I teach my first class I will surely write about and post it for all to read.

Flashlight 1

Can’t take it anymore, Good Bye

2007-05-13T13:14:00.000-05:00

When I arrived at work the other day I received some interesting news. When I entered the room my supervisor had asked me if I knew a certain psych patient. The patient he was asking me about did not seem to belong on a psych ward. Granted the patient did mention that he was having suicidal thoughts, but had shown no signs of a mental illness. Well anyways the patient did his mandatory 72 hours and was discharged in the morning. My supervisor informed me that the patient set up his appointments for our day treatment program then went home and ate the gun.

The patient came on a Friday night and missed the doctor. So he sat around, talked with myself, the RN, and the other patients. When he checked in he said he had suicidal thoughts because his mother was sick and he had problems with his sister. What confused me with his death was that he made plans for the future (day treatment), he was changing jobs (he had money, just worked for fun), and had a huge support system (very large family and several friends).

When I went up to our psych ward, myself and two other RNs’ who worked with the patient discussed possible reasons. I think when he arrived home something triggered the suicidal thoughts i.e. dying mother, fighting with sister. The RNs’ think he did it because he received no real treatment. Because he came in on a Friday and the doctor doesn’t come in until Monday, he pretty much sat around watching television and sitting in group. The patient pretty much went through our psych assembly system.
The patient was a good man and everyone spoke very highly of him. I am not talking about a guy who was a jerk and in death he became nostalgic. He was genuinely a good person who was very social and a positive thinker. I believe sometime on the weekend he made peace with suicide and that was why he was so nice to everyone. It’s too bad the patient did not get the chance to receive the treatment he needed.

I did not have time to feel bad though, I received a call to get to our ER registration. A fight was about to break out over ugly shoes. Stupid people keep me busy enough so I do not have to deal with death in the hospital. I guess when I get old and retire I feel for these people then. For now though I have become comfortably numb.

Flashlight 1

If you’re Crazy and you know It II

2007-05-06T12:37:00.000-05:00

My partner and I were standing outside assisting with a medical evac by helicopter. The patient needed angioplasty so the security department secures the landing pad keeping bystanders away from the chopper and escort in and out of the hospital. So as we finish and the bird flies off my partner and I step into the emergency room. As we enter we here the emergency director yelling for someone to call security. We run down to the room and before I opened the curtain a smell hit me like a punch to the nose and I knew then this was going to be bad.

There was a 30 year old heavy set female half naked lying in the bed yelling profanities like the girl from the exorcist, actually she kind of looked like her only fat and older. The director and nurse were trying to use soft restraints (thanks JCAHO) on this very strong woman, who needed hard leather restraints. Needless to say these two were not having too much success. So my partner grabbed an arm, the ER director grabbed an arm, the one nurse started tying her up, and I grabbed these two mammoth ham hocks. I then discovered what the smell was; she had been on her period and had not changed anything down there. So as the RN finishes the last tie down I go and help the director put back on the oxygen mask. The patient kept using her tongue to push the mask off her face, so we decided to tape her up. As I held the mask on the left arm came loose and guess what, she decided to grab a hold of, that’s right Mr. Happy. I pulled away in time, but as I did her nails got caught on my trousers and ripped her fake nails off. We re-tied these wimpy soft restraints back to the bed and went back to the office to fill out some paper work.

20 minutes later we were called back to the emergency room. When we arrived she had slid herself to the bottom of the bed. I snatched our clinical coordinator as he walked by because at this point I needed someone to pay. The doctor decided on a posey vest, but the problem was we needed to untie her hands, put the vest on, zip up the vest, and tie everything back to the bed. So we got into position, this time I took an arm and made my partner take a leg. We un-tied her arms and she started kicking and yelling. This time though her aunt and mother had stepped into the room. We tried to be careful at all times not to hurt patients, but when family is looking over your shoulder you try to play nice. The aunt picked up on this and said, “I am going to take a walk, you guys do what you have to.” So I put my arm against her face pushing her fat cheeks between her teeth so she would stop biting and we got her tied back down.

When we were done I looked over to my partner and he was pale as a ghost. He held his breath as long as he could and when it was time to breath he took a big whiff and he was sick. We escorted the staff with the patient tied to the bed up to one of the wards. The whole time the patient was calling use racial slurs and pointing out our physical abnormality i.e. I am fat, my partner is tall, but with profanity mixed in. My partner stepped out for some fresh air and I went back to reports.

The next day I went on my usual patrol and when I passed the room I met with her aunt. The aunt stated that she does remember anything at all. She just woke up extremely sore in all places. They thanked us and apologized which was not necessary. To do this job you need to have thick skin. We all realize when people come in a hospital they are not themselves. They don’t want to be there and may even be terrified. So we take the insults and just do our job and sometimes people realize we are there to help.

Flashlight 1

Handcuff Training

2007-05-01T21:51:00.000-05:00

There was uproar in the security department ever since the knife incident which you can read on my blog (Fake Florence Nightingale + Fake Gangster = Disaster). The concern expressed by everyone was that we had no way of protecting ourselves or even ways of detaining someone. We pretty much walk around with a radio, gloves, and a bar code swipe (so they can track where we have been). We have been running around with an empty duty belt. So the department decided to give us training so we can get our certificates so we can carry handcuffs and pepper spray.

We first started with handcuff training; our old supervisor was the instructor. We watched a training film from the 80’s and read through a book. The old supervisor then showed us how to handcuff someone with hinged handcuffs. My personal favorite is the chained handcuffs, easier to put on someone. After the demonstration it was our turn to practice on each other. Everyone picked a partner and a style of handcuff they wanted the department to order for them. Everyone picked up the hinged handcuffs because that is what the instructor used; also they are more expensive of the two so the other officers want the department to pay for those ones. I picked the chained because that is what I have used for years.

So my partner started on me first and the first cuff went on with no problem. He then slaps the second one on me and after a second I loose feeling in my left hand. After it turned purple he took it off and it went back to its normal color. So now it was my turn to practice on him. Now I remind you there are two different types of cuffs we are using so there are two different ways of putting on the cuffs and everyone is using one style and I am using the chained style. So when I started to put on the cuff my instructor says I am doing it wrong and to do it the way he showed me, so I did. I put on the first cuff, no problem. It is when I applied the second I realized the cuff was not going to reach his other hand, so I pulled. He let out a scream and a few curse words and I said well quit fighting me and there will be no pain. He said he was not fighting me and that I was twisting his wrist. So the instructor came over and said I was doing everything right until he noticed I had a different type of cuff.

I went back to applying the cuff the way I normally do and everything worked out. We all got our certificates and now will be able to detain people legally. I can’t wait until we start our pepper spray training. Our director will be the instructor and part of the training requires us to get sprayed in the face. I am sure I will have a fun story for you when that happens.

Flashlight 1

Too Little To Late

2007-04-21T11:41:00.000-05:00

I have to explain how security works since there has been so much in the news lately. When something terrible happens then news stations always say we need to re-evaluate security. I am going tell you how security works; you can only deter the average person from committing a crime. If someone wants to hurt someone it is going to happen, security and police can only really deter people that care. An example would be people speeding on the highways. You know there are police out there looking so you slow down, but some keep speeding with no care for their and others safety.

Security officers are bonded to the rules and regulations of their company. The Virginia Tech shooting was a tragedy, but could have had yielded less victims if the rules were different. After the first shootings at the dorm the campus should have been shut down, but the director did not want to do it. So the shooter returns and kills 30 more people and now its securities fault. Then I read that someone killed a hostage and their self at NASA and they are blaming security.

Here is the problem in most facilities; they have so much square footage they need covered including access control, but they under staff and misuse the security personnel they have. Our CEO at my hospital hates to see fire trucks out front because it just looks bad. So one day I went out for my patrol and the local fire department needed to have their PPD read and they decided to drive the fire truck to the hospital (they can park where they want). The last time we had a fire truck out front the CEO chewed out my partner in front of everyone. So I see this fire truck in front of the ER and start telling this guy to move it to the side of our building and he refuses. The whole time I am out arguing with this idiot who doesn’t want to walk the extra 15 feet a C.N.A got jumped by 3 people. The CEO is stubborn as hell, but does not want to get sued so he finally has relaxed his personal rule on fire trucks, but it was to little to late for the C.N.A. Oh yea did I mention it was still some how our fault, I was only doing as I was told by our CEO. The sad truth is facilities will always wait for some kind of tragedy to happen for them to realize they are misusing security or change policy.

Flashlight 1

Fake Florence Nightingale + Fake Gangster = Disaster

2007-04-17T19:45:00.000-05:00

Well my partner and I had a little excitement this week. My partner and I were called by a ward secretary because nurses were failing to calm down an agitated patient. Upon arrival I hear someone cursing like a sailor and threatening violence upon anyone who stops him from leaving. We ran to the room because the patient sounded like he was becoming more vulgar only to be stopped an RN. The room had maybe 4 C.N.A.s and 2 R.Ns and a new floor manager. The floor manager tells us, “The patient really doesn’t like people in uniform, so just stay out of the room,” and she stands in the door way refusing to move. The next thing I hear is his RN yelling put the pole down!” Once again staff refuses to move for us to enter and take down the violent patient. One of the C.N.As grab the pole (the piece that holds the IV on the bed) and brings it out to us. After 45 minutes the R.N is able to hit the patient with drugs and knock him out, temporarily.

Thoroughly pissed off my partner and I went back to our office to document what exactly went on. A few hours later we are informed there is an agitated patient threatening violence on staff once again on the same floor. When we arrive this time the patient is standing in the ward’s tiny waiting area with a tube hooked to his chest and connected to what my partner called “his lunch box.” The reason the patient was upset was because he wanted to go out and smoke, but the doctor would not sign orders to allow him to smoke. The patient had a collapsed lung and for him to leave the floor he would have to discharge himself and his “lunch box” would have to be disconnected. Within a minute his lung would deflate and in minutes he would die. So needless to say he could not leave or discharge himself because it would cause almost certain death.

The patient’s R.N was sitting in a chair telling the patient the hospital’s policies and telling him what would happen if he went out to smoke. The R.N then started asking questions about the patient’s personal life which made him realize he had nothing to loose. He had a new born baby, but wished her gone, his family disowned him because he was an asshole who tried to harm others, and last he was broke because no one wanted to hire him also for the same reasons his family disowned him. Basically this was a punk kid who thought he was a suburb thug. Every attempt by us to take control of the situation was thwarted by the R.N who was only making the situation worse. 40 minutes had gone by and this kid was still ranting and raving about how he was a thug and how “he was gonna straight bust us upside our heads yo,” the whole time he is swinging his “lunch box.” Our clinical coordinator the whole time was trying to contact the doctor who was unreachable.

My partner finally tired of listening to this white guy using the N word after every other word interrupted the nurse and told the kid his options. The patient stood there for a minute, made a phone call to his baby momma leaving a voice mail threatening her and his baby. After that the patient headed back to his room and stayed there for a few minutes. It seemed like the situation was over and the staff started discussing putting Vanilla Ice in restraints when he walked out of his room fully dressed. My partner, myself, the dumb ass R.N, and the clinical coordinator followed the patient to the elevators. When the doors opened I stepped in front of the door and informed him that he could not leave. The patient reaches into his pocket and pulls out a knife, waves it in front of mine and the clinical coordinator’s face. As my partner and I step forward to beat the crap out of him, the R.N decides to play patient advocate and stands in between him and us. The clinical coordinator reaches for his phone and calls 911. Within seconds we hear the sounds of sirens and a load roar coming up the stairs. I look over at the stair case to find a K-9 and 6 guns in my face. I yell the knife is in the right pocket and push myself and the clinical coordinator flush against the wall, my partner a black man from Chicago was in the corner hiding from Cujo the K-9. The police started ordering the patient to put his hands up and instead the patient reaches for his pocket and that’s were it goes bad. When the patient reached for his pocket the deputy released the dog at the same time a state trooper was kneeling down to shoot. The dog turns his head and does what he is trained to do, bite and rip. The state trooper’s arm is being torn up by the dog, the patient cursing at the police. The dog lets go and looks right at the kid and all the gangster in the boy suddenly disappears. I pulled the state trooper over to the nurse’s station and asked if someone in the audience could take care of his wounds. The whole time I could hear the kid crying like an infant as he is cuffed. The patient stayed until the “lunch box” could be safely removed and he was taken into custody by the state.

My supervisor had a meeting with our department head, our vice president, and their boss about the situation. They discussed that when security is called everyone is to get out of the way. We are called because talking has failed especially in this situation where this 23 year old kid had already threatened staff. No one in the hospital has a right to risk our safety including R.Ns. You have to go to college to be a doctor or a nurse so you would think they would be smarter than the un-educated. I have started college course and I have figured out why these people seem ignorant at times. It turns out that no college in the United States at least teaches common sense.

Flashlight 1

Be On The Look Out: GOD

2007-04-08T12:21:00.000-05:00

It seems that with almost every unexplainable action, an act of a person that boggles the mind, to the committer there is one simple explanation. It turns out that God tells them to do it or at least some where in their religious doctrine the action is allowed. Ever since I started working security on the streets to present day in a hospital when I question a suspect’s or patient’s motives they answer God told them to do it. I see it a lot on psych wards and amongst drug users. They are afraid to take responsibility for their actions i.e. pulling a fire alarm because God said a fire was immanent when they did it really for attention. Religion manipulation does play a role in criminal activities. People steal for financial gain to provide for their families even though all religions make stealing a sin, but if they use the money for food religions say it is a sin to have hunger. Religions justify killing but not murder, so if a person feels the killing just then they will not be punished by God.

I have found when dealing with a problematic or suicidal patient having a broad knowledge of all religions can help defuse potential dangerous situation. To understand people’s motives you have to know religion whether or not you believe.

Flashlight 1

Security Tip

2007-04-04T18:56:00.000-05:00

Think security and not style, I am talking about your identification badge. When working I notice that no one person wears their identification badge in the same place and 90% of the time it is not visible. It makes it harder on security to ID non- employees. Now I know because staff wears different uniforms or the badge may get in the way, but make sure it is visible at all time. This little tip will help security ID who belongs and who does not.

Flashlight 1

Just when you think you have seen it all

2007-04-01T23:51:00.000-05:00

As I arrived into work I see that the emergency room waiting area is full. I clocked in and put my gear on and the officers I was relieving were giving me the run down of the day’s activities. “Not a thing going on, the ER is just full and you have one down in the cooler” (body in the morgue). A few minutes into the shift my partner and I were ask to assist a male out of his vehicle. He had some kind of stomach virus and had not eaten in days. As we bring the person in we are suddenly thrown to the wolves by registration staff. The full waiting area has now turned to a lynch mob because they are tired of waiting and they are sicker than the person who was just taken back to a bed.

The whole time this is going on there is a female in her mid 40’s just sitting in a chair in front of a nurse almost catatonic. Instead of calling a psych tech or another nurse the registration person points her out to me. The women seem to snap out of her hypnotic state, starts whispering and crying and run out of the waiting area. Normally people in our area love to join a mob so I thought it was weird she ran off, so me being me I followed. On a side note the last time I followed an upset women outside her husband nearly ran me over after he beat her. Anyways she had parked outside our ambulance entrance and when she drove off she hit the curb, swerved and slammed her brakes at a stop sign beside the hospital. I jumped into our broken death trap of a jeep and followed her over, I stopped and walked to her window and that’s where the fun started.

The women would speak almost as if there was no problem, except she kept saying, “If I said there was a cat there, would you agree with me?” I told her, well Miss I am not going to lie, the only critter around is the bird chirping away behind me. Then she dropped her head and started to cry and whisper, “I want to end it all, I want to end it all.” The she reaches over to a gym bag and I yelled get your hand away from that bag. As I reach for my radio she started to head into traffic. I would put my radio back and she would stop. I could not get her to park the vehicle nor could I get her to step out. After a while she seemed to have to personalities, but what was weird it seemed each personality had its own mental problem. Now I spoke with our wonderful psych nurse and counselor and they think she is just border line, but there is a 1 in a million chance this is happening.
After about three hours of standing, at times in the rain trying to convince both personalities not to kill themselves I was able to calm her down long enough to radio for police assistance. In the process of talking with her one of the personalities told me her husband abuses her. Now it is not my job to judge the truthfulness of this statement, but just the same I was going to leave that up to the deputies. They were able to get her to admit herself to our psych ward where the nurse and councilor will find out if we have a border line or a 1 in a million phenomenon. Either way it was a first for me to try to convince two personalities not to commit suicide, my brain is fried!

Flashlight 1

Hot Nurses and Their Stalkers

2007-03-25T23:53:00.000-05:00

All work places have them, extremely attractive people whether they are male or female. Because of what is known as the Florence Nightingale effect, patients falling in love with their nurses, even the old trashy books from the 50’s and 60’s involving doctors having their way with nurses. The porn industry has created a fixation on sexy nurses from these things which has created a mass lust for hot nurses.

The other day I had a nurse who seemed slightly upset; I told her I would help her because my partner and I were fighting two mental patients. After the doctor wrote orders for me to put both patients into seclusion I asked her to meet me in the office. The nurse informed me that someone had been following her to work and vandalizing her and another nurse’s vehicle. She said she thought it may be a former employee who was fired for unknown reasons, even to security. He always wanted to date her and the other nurse, but he was always turned down. Frankly this was an extremely weird individual who said off color remarks and no that is not why he was fired.

The person had painted “GAY PRIDE” with a big rainbow on all the windows on both vehicles. The person she suspected had in the past shown up at the hospital and pushed in her rear view mirrors. The other nurse’s brother had past away not to long ago and the suspect would call her in the middle of the night and tell her, “your brother always hated you and he is probably glad he is dead”. At this point I had heard enough and decided to call this sick SOB.

When I called he must of saw the caller I.D and said the nurses name and apologized. Then I said in my deep voice, this is not her, this is hospital security and you and I now have a problem. He gulped loudly over the phone the suspect now knowing who he is talking to. In the past I had a fist fight with someone much bigger than me in the emergency room in front of the suspect. I broke the guy’s neck and he needed M.R.I.s and several x-rays, he touched a nurse. I told him that if he arrived at the hospital for any other reason then to be seen that I would not bother calling the police and he will have to deal with me. He apologized several times and promised to not show up again.

Both the nurses are very attractive people and are constantly harassed by staff. The problem is that they do not want to cause a problem so they say nothing until it is too late. The suspect had always been obsessed with these two and because they never handle it right away the obsession festered. Now they have a possible psychopath stalker after them. I just ask for any staff member male or female to report sexual harassment no matter what even if others consider you un-attractive. People always say there is someone out there for everyone; hopefully the one out there for you doesn’t try to kill you. Report all harassment before it is too late.

Flashlight 1

Please Compromise Security, We’re Rich

2007-03-18T17:38:00.000-05:00

There are two ladies who come in for rehabilitation geriatric services. Everyday at 1620 they walk into the hospital entering through the front lobby to have dinner in our cafeteria. They spend about $1.13 each on chow, sit and bad mouth the staff. The reason people put up with them is because they are filthy rich.

Our hospital is in the middle of renovations which has blocked off certain short cuts. People now have to make a some what long walk to get to our elevators and head down to the café. There used to be straight shot from the front lobby to the elevators. We have placed motorized scooters to help the handicap and geriatric people get around this inconvenience.

Well the other day my director was called and asked a weird question. Our quality management department, which is next to the café, called and wanted to know if we could unlock all basement doors at 1620 and lock them when called? The doors are set to only open with a key card and can be exited in an emergency. My director not only told them no, but he was planning on having all erroneous doors removed to control access to the hospital. Quality management informed my director that there were two elderly ladies tired of walking around and wanted the basement doors unlocked so they could enter and exit at ease. They did not want to use the motorized scooters because of their pride. Once again my director responded with a firm no!

The most important thing in our hospital is customer service. Although I agree people need to be treated with respect especially in a hospital setting, but where do you draw the line. Do we risk everyone’s personal security by hindering access control so we don’t hurt the pride of two geriatric patients? If the security department is to leave the entire basement open then who is to say that someone else enters with the intent to cause harm? Frankly they can go buy their little scoops of veggies somewhere else because I will not risk staff and patient’s safety because of two old ladies pride.

Flashlight 1

Liberty For the Criminals and Justice For None

2007-03-15T22:31:00.000-05:00

A while back my partner and I had a dangerous situation on hand. My partner and I were in our office finishing up paperwork for some earlier incidents when our registration called about an intoxicated person. My partner arrived and found an intoxicated male in early 40s yelling at his wife. The subject was cursing and ranting about hitting a car. According to my partner he escorted the subject outside and informed him if he did not leave the police would be called. He thought the incident was over and we went back to paperwork.

A few minutes later I hear the someone out in registration arguing. Sure enough it was the same suspect back arguing with his wife and staff. He wanted to go back in the emergency room to see his step daughter and his wife refused to allow him. I told them that they needed to take their conversation outside. Of course I received a barrage of insults and then him and his wife went outside. I had a feeling something was wrong so I called my partner and followed the couple outside.

The women was walking to her mini van completely ignoring the drunk guy insults completely. When she arrived at the door that is when he snapped and grabbed his wife by the throat. With one hand he choked her and with the other hand started to hit her. I ran up twisted his arm and bounced him off the concrete. I checked to see if she was ok and my partner ran after the man. He jumped into his cherry 1969 chevelle with over 700 horse power (wife informed us later on the cars specs). As we chased he put his car in drive and almost ran my partner and I over, us jumping out of the way at the last moment. My partner took off on foot and I jumped in the security vehicle while radioing for the police. He took off our property so we could not follow. I turned on the police scanner to hear that it turned into a high speed chase. The drunk ended up recking the car and getting his ass whooped by the police when he tried to assault the deputies.

My partner and I received summons to be whiteness in the case. The day before court he pleaded out. I checked his past arrest records and this man had over 10 DUI, 3 felony domestic assaults one beating his previous wife, and several speeding tickets. So I was thinking they will throw the book at this guy especially since he tried to run my partner and I down. Well I called back and got the results. The SOB got off with no jail time and $1000. dollars in fines. Because your spouse can not be forced to testify she backed out at the last minute and dropped the charges. The high speed chase turned into fines and well there is no proof that he tried to run us over. She doesn't want to testify and she was our only witness. We almost get killed trying to protect this women's life and all this guy got was $1000. in fines. The county made a few bucks because it would cost way to much to keep him in jail.

Flashlight 1

Baby Kidnapped and Lets Blame Secuirty

2007-03-14T00:45:00.000-05:00

I am sure you have all heard by now about the baby stolen from Lubbock, Texas hospital. If not here is a little reminder for you all that live under a rock, this is from NBC news. 21 year old Rayshaun Parson was arrested and accused of kidnapping the 3 day old infant. Police said the woman in this surveillance video is Parsons, who posed as a medical worker, claimed she was taking the baby for tests, and walked out with the infant hidden in her purse.
The news of late has decided to blame the incident on the security department which is wrong! First off security officers can not be everywhere at one time nor can they check in every person who enters. The problem in most health care facilities is that no one thinks security is their job. The report says, “The women posed as a medical worker”, she dressed in scrubs. Also ask any real RN or CNA they know who works in their department, yes even the new ones. The women claimed she was taking the baby for tests. Who the hell accepts that answer that was complete laziness on the nurses’ part? Any tests on the baby would have been done in that department and if the baby was to be transferred the baby’s RN would have assisted in the transfer. Here is an example of what should have been said;

Nurse: Excuse me, can I help you?

Impersonator: Oh, I am here to pick up this baby to take for some test.

Nurse: Ok, hold on one moment while I call that baby’s nurse. I haven’t seen you around before,

what department do you work in?

Impersonator: I am just a tech, I work all over the hospital.

Nurse: I can’t see your ID badge and I didn’t catch your name, what was it?

Impersonator: Oh, my name is “blank” and I left my badge at home.

By now the baby’s nurse should have arrived and furthered questioned the women about what

tests are to be performed. With in a few moments an intelligent RN would have figured out this woman was a fraud and called the police or at least call a code pink. I know what people are thinking, that it is easy to point this out after the incident. This is in no way true, I have worked around RNs and I know they would never accept I am here for tests; give me the baby as an answer. The nursery dropped the ball, but instead of admitting fault they will let everyone blame security. The security department puts cameras up for these reasons. If those lazy security officers never up those cameras, one can only wonder where that baby would be. Probably dead and in the dumpster or sold on the black market. When something goes right security never has anything to do with it, but a staff member screws up its securities’ fault. I am very happy to hear that the baby was found, but the hospital needs to review it's policy on handing out sick infants to anyone that asks.

Flashlight 1

I See Dead People

2007-03-13T22:59:00.000-05:00

The hospital I work at believes in saving as much money as possible. The security and safety department does many jobs such as; dietary (running food to all floors after hours) , maintenance (fixing things plant ops has said are not broken, but ignorant nurses insist they are), psychologist (our emergency room insists on only having a social worker on call with a county full of nuts), and one of my favorites morgue attendant.

This week I hurt my back loading and unloading extremely obese patients who have recently expired. Starting on Friday my partner and I witnessed a doctor walk into a crowded waiting area to tell a couple of 19 year old their mom died. We heard the screaming ran over and opened the social worker's office to let them grieve. An hour later we are called to pick up a body from the emergency room. When my partner and I arrived to the room we saw a mass the size of a baby whale in a body bag. My partner after several exhausting minutes got the mass on our cart and it took all of our energy to get it down in the morgue.

When we arrived my partner and I attempted to put the women into the freezer. So when we tried to hook up our crane it would not fit over the woman's stomach. So I have her a squeeze that I later would regret. We got her lowered and she would not fit into the freezer so we put her in the autopsy room and lowered to a/c to 40 degrees. Afterwards my back as well as my partners were a little sore fighting with the corpse, but it was the end of the day and the funeral home was on their way to pick her up.

I walked in the door Saturday morning feeling good. When I walked in I saw that the paperwork for the funeral home was still here. I asked the morning shift if they ever checked the body and they replied "nope." So my partner and I ran downstairs to find the a/c went out and the room had a very pungent oder. It turns out there was decomposition and that squeezing I did made her expel what was left in her boules. The funeral home never arrived because they thought they would come tomorrow afternoon, no rush she should be refrigerated. The morning shift never called the funeral home, oh joy. We finally released her lift her was even more difficult because of the new smell and I had no vicks vapor rub to put under my nose to kill the smell, but we got her out and on her way to the ocean probably.

Later on that day my partner and I had one 250 pound male that was 6'10" and a 200 pound lady pass away, but were to get them in the cooler. Although they were lighter than the first cadaver they were still very heavy, not like lifting a weights because the weight is distributed all over the body and well this is where the definition of "dead weight" derives from. Saturday ended and and Sunday came about.

My partner from the previous two days was off and my fresh partner arrived on duty. We released the two patients and I was still feeling very good. No problems really at all, just the normal fix this and get me a clear liquid dinner plate. The first time I heard clear liquid dinner plate my partner and I thought it was water in a plate and it turns out we were wrong. We found it funny as hell, but the nurses and the pregnant women found it less than funny and look very pissed off.

Monday finally rolled around and my partner got another call from the emergency room to pick up another deceased patient. When I got the paper work I read that she weighed 200 pounds and notice a check mark by a place that the security department dreads to see. There was to be an autopsy performed on her and at our hospital. We lugged her down into the morgue and used the crane to lower into the freezer. When the doctor arrived, or who I like to call the butcher, we put the women on the cart and pushed her in the room. The smell of rotten flesh and feces still lingered, but just the same we had to lift this women onto the slab. The problem is our cart's crank is broken. We can not raise the cart level to the slab. Instead we have to lift this large mass 3 feet up and on the slab. We did so and left for the butcher to perform his dicing. A couple hours went by and we my partner and I went to put the patient back into the morgue now covered in flesh and blood and attempted to put the her back into the cooler. We dropped the patient back onto our cart and rolled her up to the lower freezer door and that's when we noticed something. She was to far over on the cart and if we used the crane the tray would tilt dropping the mass on the floor. We went to slide her over and that's when my back said, "You are done for the day, and for all your trouble I will make you feel like hell." I dropped her back in the cart and the doctor who was cleaning up helped my partner put her in her frozen temporary home.

After a few hours of sitting in my own emergency room, they sent me home with a strained back. The doc said if I loose feeling in my feet I was to drive back to the emergency room. He got his PHD on the back of a Mc Donalds place mat. I am doped up and feeling kinda good, but am slightly peeved that after several complaints the hospital refuses to replace our broken cart. I want to return to work asap because I hate sitting at home.

Flashlight 1

Training day

2007-01-31T21:35:00.000-05:00

In the current healthcare security field it is of the norm to lose security personnel. The problem is not finding personnel, but finding qualified applicants that actually want to do the job. The reason that most people apply for the vacant position is because they have no understanding of what a security officer actually does.

The other day my director interviewed a person from outside the hospital for a vacant security officer position. During the interview the director felt as if the person had a misunderstanding of what the requirements were for the position so he decided halfway through the interview to go straight to the physical training test (P.T test). Our basic test involves running up six flights of stairs. You start at the basement level a run up a level 5 then up to the penthouse elevator room. The reason for this is our level 5 area is also our psych department and it is possible for you to be in the basement and have to respond to a fire alarm on level 5. When the person being interviewed walk into the basement and looked up the spiraling staircase she shook her head and said, “never mind I thought all you did was sit around and sleep” and walked right out.

This is a typical response because most people think a security officer is the same as security guard. A security guard is someone who is hired to sit down and observe and report, also at times take several naps throughout the shift. A security guard is often untrained and needs to have no prior experience in the field. A security officer on the other hand is supposed to be a highly trained and educated individual. At times you are just sitting and watching closed-circuit television, but for the most part you are dealing with the public, assisting in arrests, asked to participate in court, and in the healthcare field aiding the sick and injured.

In our hospital we have hired two new employees. The first person is a young ex-Marine who lacks discipline, I know it should be an oxymoron, and a retiree who works one day a week and is as slow as a snail. The two seem to be able to handle the basics duties of a security officer one of the new hires, the ex-Marine, seems to actually like working in the hospital. The other day I got my chance that training the retiree and he seemed a bit skittish when it comes to dealing with the mentally insane and potentially dangerous people. Unfortunately in our hospital this is a norm and he will have to get used to it or go back to his day job. In a few days I will get my chance to train the ex-Marine and hospital safety and security. In my past I have had a chance to train ex-Marines, Navy Seals, and ex-police officers in healthcare security. I am sure I will have a story to report back to you since I will have him for two days for training and it takes place on a Friday and Saturday night.

Flashlight 1

Corrections: I got to train the ex-marine and I assumed wrong. My assumptions were based on other security officer who trained him prior. They were wrong and I was wrong. He seemed lazy because the training officers told him to. They gave me another ex-marine/ ex-sheriff deputy. Both worked out great and we are building a great team.

If your Crazy and You Know It

2007-01-26T00:17:00.000-05:00

We had another case of the crazies and this time no one pushed the patient there. We received a call at 1800 hours to come to the emergency department. As my partner and I arrived in the emergency room we hear a women in a room screaming profanity, we assumed this is why were called. We grabbed her doctor and he informed us that she had skipped her day treatment with the psych ward and instead mixed her medication with alcohol. The doctor informed us he had already placed an emergency petition on her and she was to go in 4 point restraints. Not hard at all we thought she maybe weighed 100-105 pounds soaking wet. As we glove up the doctor says, " Oh yea, she has hepatitis and she ripped her I.V out." So when my partner and I opened the curtain the whole left side of her bed was soaked in blood and she was pushing the nurse. The first thing we did was lift her up and put her in the bed. Then she started to use more profanity and call me a fat pig, which really doesn't bother me at all. The funny thing was after we had both legs and one arm restrained she yelled at my partner, "What you gonna do, go home and tell your fat wife you tied little old me to a bed?" The funny part was not only is my partner single, he goes home to his cat and no the cat is not fat. The cat's name will be kept hidden because I am sure somewhere it is against HIPPA regulations. While we are finishing the last hand my partner's hand slides a little because of the blood and she scratched my arm. We have now went from irritated to pissed off and my partner and I slam her hand to the bed and tie that arm down. Afterwards I get to get checked out by the doctor. The scratch did not break the skin and that part of the arm was the only part not to come in contact with blood. The rest of the day my partner and I got to respond to stupid calls and open doors. Got to love this job to show up the next day.

Flashlight 1

Credit is Due

2007-01-23T00:22:00.000-05:00

Security received a call at the end of our shift at 2245 hours to rush up to the geriatric department stat. The report was that an elderly man was trying to leave. When I arrived with my partner we found a 79 year old man cussing and yelling that he is leaving this hell hold. Now patients have all rights to refuse treatment and leave at any time, but the problem was he was hooked up to an oxygen machine and when he stood up every bone cracked. He was diagnosed with leukemia and was dying. If this man went down it was going to take the strength of both of us officers to get him up. He began to tell us that he was ready to die now and I was to carry him down stairs, get him in my vehicle and drive him 40 miles north. I explained to him that I could not do that and he told me that he was going to sue me for everything I have. Jokes on him I work security, I am poor.

These situations are normal for us to get called to. Typically the nurses are tired of the patients who have been acting out all day and at the end of the day let security deal with it. I was going to start my speech on why life is worth living when a nurse came out of a room and started to speak. This was not her patient at all and she looked absolutely exhausted, but gave an outstanding speech. Not only did it move myself and my other officer it made everyone listening think twice about their lives.

Security officers sometimes have to learn how to help people cope with terminal illnesses or death. By the end of the day nobody seems to want to help these people and security officers naturally want to help even if they don't want to admit it. Nurses sometimes forget that they got into this profession to help, but by the end of the day with all the stress in a hospital they just seem to give up. Then there are those nurses who are special almost a gift. She did not do what she did to help us out, she did it because she was worried about this man. After her heart felt speech the man laid down, put his oxygen mask back on and said, I guess I will stay a little but longer if you will have me". That nurse did a great job and sometimes we over look these hard working people and I would like to give credit where credit is due. Thanks to everyone that makes the darkest times seem brighter.

Flashlight 1

Psych Patients

2007-01-22T00:42:00.000-05:00

The last several weeks we have had some interesting psychiatric patients who have tried to commit suicide. Sometimes when a psychiatric patient stops taking their medication that people of all ages try to end all their troubles. Security is often called to stand by in case a patient tries to injure themselves or sometimes commit suicide. This week I received a call on my radio to come to the emergency department's registration area stat. It seems in our hospital that it is very important to give security as little information as possible. So when we arrive in scene we never know what we are walking into. When I arrive on this call I find a large women in her middle 30's trying to pull her skin off and eating paint chips off the wall. Standing around her were her social workers who take care of her at her half way house. The social workers are standing there allowing this women to hurt herself. I ran into the room and grabbed both her hands and said, "What are you trying to do to yourself"? She said, "I want to die and God has asked me to kill myself to be with him". The whole time she is talking the social workers are recording the incident and are almost encouraging the behavior by saying, " they are going to strap you to a bed and lock you up for forever". The first thing I did was get those damn people out of there.

My partners went into the ER to secure a room for the women while I pinned down the women's arms. The women's arms long lacerations and were very bloody. Once into one of the psychiatric rooms the women seemed to calm down until the social workers re-appeared. The women had smacked and pushed both officers while they escorted her into the room. She started to urinate and then splashed the urine on me as I walked back into the room. I am now covered in urine and blood and extremely pissed off at the social workers. Finally we are able to get rid of the social workers and give the patient medication, and yes we did have to put the patient into four point restraints (both legs and arms tied to the bed using hard restraints).

The patient had tried several times to kill herself and that's why she had been sent to a half way house where she could be monitored around the clock. She had spent several days in our psychiatric ward and had a couple escape attempts and a few suicide attempts. All times security was able to diffuse or stop the attempts and the psychiatric staff had her medication finally balanced. The women left after a few days back to the half way house. I give it a few more weeks before she is back again.

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Introduction Day

2007-01-21T21:23:00.000-05:00

The forgotten blue line will bring insight of the life of health care security officers on a weekly basis. We will bring you the stories about our daily duties, our crisis situations, and the lighter humorous side of a hospital environment otherwise considered a sad and depressing place to be. All stories will be though the eyes of all the security officers. The security officers names will be withheld as well as the hospital we are currently employed. This is to protect patient privacy as well hide who we are from our bosses (they would be slightly upset with some of our methods). Instead their names will be represented by flashlight 1 flashlight 2 and so on. I hope you enjoy and please feel free to leave comments and ask questions.

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