The Urgent Care Center Is a High-Risk Environment. Ensure Yours Is Secure

Local media in the Ravenna, OH area was atwitter with news of an active shooter outside a VA medical center recently. The drama began when an employee arrived for work and noticed a man with a sawed-off shotgun kneeling and kissing a flagpole in front of the building. When the facility’s security officer was informed and went out to investigate, the kneeling man fired off a shot into the air, triggering calls to 911, a response from the SWAT unit, and enaction of the clinic’s shelter-in-place procedure. Fortunately, the incident concluded without injury. The shotgun-toting individual, who it turned out was distraught over the death of a loved one, was taken into custody without a struggle and ultimately placed in a medical facility. Clearly the potential for massive tragedy was there, though. It’s an important reminder that the nature of an urgent care center—easily accessible to all, and with staff engaged with their duties and interacting with patients—leaves it vulnerable to bad actors. And then there’s the prospect of addicts and drug dealers assuming there are narcotics on site. You have to have a plan. JUCM addressed such scenarios from an urgent care perspective in an article entitled Protecting Your Urgent Care Center Against Robbery. Read it now and assess whether you’ve done enough to prepare for the worst.