Weapons on Site

[Aneroo]

Does your facility allow officers (city cops, sherrif) to carry their weapons at the facility?

I live in NC, where nearby at a state-run mental facility, while a patient was being admitted, he managed to get away from the officer, wrestle the officer for the gun, and shot an employee before killing himself. It's unclear on the news what the status of the employee is. I'm curious how this is going to change policy around here. -andrea

[funnygirl_rn]

No weapons, guns of any sort. All locked outside of the building in a lockbox. However, they do bring their hand-cuffs & shackles when they have to take an extremely out of control patient to another facility. Often at times I wish they allowed our milieu staff to carry tasers due to the violent behavior of some of the adolescents I work with. It has become so unsafe the past 6-7 months, that I think I need to throw in the towel & move on. Going to work & wondering...if you are going to have enough staff, let alone MALE staff, can really break/make your shift. What is really bad, is that the kids KNOW...they KNOW they can act out/fight/riot depending what male staff are on shift and how many males are on for the shift. Sad, isn't it. Sorry, needed to vent.

[sanctuary, BSN, MSN, RN]

Most places I've worked have gun lockers that are outside the facility. One place did not, but had big signs that said to leave guns in the car. Those P.O.s that were troubled by this were not allowed in. Since they were trying to drop off an acutely agitated psych patient, they usually complied. It was designed to prevent just that kind of horrific event described.

[nonie]

The facility I worked at didnt allow weapons on any of the units unless there was an extreme emergency. The Hospital Police do carry guns but leave them locked away when coming onto a unit to do a walk thru or bring a pt to the unit. its a wise safety precaution on the forensics units we have there.