Workplace Violence: Preparedness and Response in a Healthcare Setting

July 2019
Sponsored by Dataminr, Everbridge, G4S, HID IAM, and Johnson Controls

Presented by William Gibbons, Maureen McMahon, and Connie Packard

Continuing Education

Use the following learning objectives to focus your study while reading this month’s Continuing Education article.

Learning Objectives - After reading this article, you will be able to:

  1. Describe acts of workplace violence in a healthcare setting and response plans to mitigate risks.
  2. Develop action plans for emergency preparedness and response.
  3. Identify healthcare standards and guidelines aimed at reducing workplace violence incidents with specific scenarios.
  4. Integrate the importance of communication and the ability to provide a rapid response.

Locations that were once considered safe havens such as schools, places of worship and healthcare institutions are no longer immune to acts of violence. The session will be specific to unique risks in healthcare settings and address preparedness and response through training, education and communication. The session will cover types of violence with specific incidents and action plans to mitigate risks by being proactive versus reactive. In this webinar, our speakers will describe the elements of a workplace violence prevention and response plan, risk assessments, and the training necessary for employees in a healthcare setting to be aware of the necessary response.

Workplace Violence



Gibbons

William Gibbons is the Director and Deputy Chief of Public Safety at Boston Medical Center and has served in the role of Incident Commander during emergency and crisis response situations at Boston Medical Center. For the past 20 years he has held leadership positions overseeing the Public Safety Services for The BU Medical Campus includes the Boston University Schools of Medicine, Dental Medicine, Public Health, the National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories (NEIDL), a high security BSL-4 research facility and Boston Medical Center, a 496-bed hospital and Level-1 Trauma Center. William holds a BS in Management Studies from Boston University.

McMahon

Maureen McMahon, RN, BSN, MS, has over 40 years of nursing experience. For the past 17 years she has held the position of Director of Emergency Management at Boston Medical Center where she is responsible for all aspects of the institutional emergency management program. Mrs. McMahon holds a Master’s degree in community health specializing in public health and holds certificates in hospital incident command and emergency response. She is currently the chair of the Conference of Boston Teaching Hospitals’ Emergency Management Committee and an executive committee member for the Massachusetts Region 4C Healthcare Preparedness Coalition.
Packard

Connie Packard, CHPA, is the Senior Director and Chief of Public Safety, Control Center, Parking & Transportation services and Emergency Management. She currently serves as an Incident Commander for Boston Medical Center for Emergency and crisis response. For the past thirty years she has overseen healthcare security for the medical center which includes the hospital and formerly Boston University Schools of Graduate Studies in Medical, Dental Medicine, and School of Public Health. Boston Medical Center is the primary teaching affiliate for Boston University and a level one trauma center. She has over thirty six years’ experience in security and public safety work in both the public and private sectors.