The president of the United Nurses of Alberta is calling for quicker installation of weapons scanners at urban hospitals, saying her members face “threats of violence almost daily.”
Heather Smith’s call follows a stabbing last week in the emergency department at Edmonton’s Royal Alexandra Hospital that left a 42-year-old man requiring treatment for life-threatening injuries.
Hospital and Surgical Health Services Minister Matt Jones said after the attack that his government is working to speed up the implementation of weapons screening at the hospital and that the facility has increased its security personnel.
Smith further called it a “dangerous situation” that also requires the government to acknowledge that the violence in emergency departments is linked to overcrowding and lack of capacity.
“Frustrated, frightened patients and their families having to wait hours in packed emergency departments will inevitably lead to tense situations and outbreaks of violence. The best way to eliminate the problem is to build the capacity that Alberta requires,” Smith wrote Thursday in her letter to Jones.
Edmonton police said its patrol officers who were already at the hospital on April 3 noticed two men fighting around 6:15 p.m. and stepped in. Police said one of the men was found with three edged weapons and faces charges, including assault with a weapon and two counts of failing to comply with probation.
No hospital visitors, patients or staff were injured, police said.
Comments