Doctor returns fire in hospital, disables shooting suspect
Hospital Safety Insider, July 31, 2014
Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to Hospital Safety Insider!
A psychiatrist narrowly avoided being shot to death by a patient in a suburban Philadelphia hospital July 24, and his quick response by pulling out his own firearm and shooting the suspect is being credited for saving many more lives at the facility, according to a report from the Charleston Daily Mail.
According to the report, the suspect, Richard Plotts, showed up at Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital in Darby, Pennsylvania at around 1:30 p.m., an hour early for an appointment he had with his psychiatrist, Lee Silverman. At some point there was a scuffle, and Plotts pulled out a gun and shot a caseworker in the face, reports said. He then shot at Silverman, who was grazed by a bullet in the temple and thumb but managed to crouch down behind a desk and pull his own weapon out to return fire.
The report added that Plotts – who has a history of gun arrests, violence and mental health problems - was shot several times, but survived and had to be wrestled to the ground. Reports quoted police as saying Plotts had 39 unspent bullets on him and that it’s believed he had planned to shoot more people at the hospital had Silverman not returned fire.
Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to Hospital Safety Insider!
Related Products
-
Hospital Safety Center
Improve compliance with hospital safety standards from The Joint Commission, OSHA, and other regulators with this...
-
Healthcare Life Safety Compliance
Created exclusively for healthcare facility managers, plant operations professionals, and directors of engineering, this...
-
Hospital Safety Insider
Stay on top of hospital safety requirements and best practices with our free, fast-paced weekly update.
-
Basic OSHA Compliance Manual Kit
Total compliance has never been easier. This one convenient package contains everything you need to ensure your outpatient...
-
Basic Dental OSHA Compliance Manual Kit
Total compliance has never been easier. This one convenient package contains everything you need to ensure your dental...
Most Popular
- Articles
-
- Don't forget the three checks in medication administration
- Five ways to safeguard your patients' valuables
- Note similarities and differences between HCPCS, CPT® codes
- The consequences of an incomplete medical record
- Q&A: Primary, principal, and secondary diagnoses
- Skills of effective case managers
- OB services: Coding inside and outside of the package
- Nursing responsibilities for managing pain
- Practice the six rights of medication administration
- Reimbursement for Facility and Professional Services in a Provider-Based Department by Gina M. Reese, Esq., RN
- E-mailed
-
- Plan of Care Supports Documentation of Homebound Status
- Q/A: Coding infusions to correct low potassium levels
- Note from the instructor: CMS clarifies billing guidelines on proper billing for drugs in a single-dose or single-use vial, including billing for discarded drugs
- Neurological checks for head injuries
- Modifiers and medical necessity
- HIPAA Q&A: Cameras in patient rooms
- Follow these tips to properly report bladder catheter codes
- Examine cardboard boxes stored on floor to avoid infection control, life safety citations
- Differentiate between types of wound debridement
- Consider two options for coding Rho(D) immune globulin given in pregnancy
- Searched