Lincoln City Police assisted Samaritan North Lincoln Hospital as they conducted an armed intruder training drill which was held on Tuesday, Oct. 12, at Samaritan North Lincoln Hospital medical campus. The realistic drill was a valuable learning experience for involved staff, who were coached by observers on the appropriate responses to take. Although hospital and clinic staff were notified in advance of the drill, they did not know the frightening details, which are described below courtesy of Mary Jo Kerlin, SHS Communications Strategist.
In the scenario, an angry man entered Samaritan Lincoln City Medical Center at about 11 a.m. demanding to see a doctor who no longer works there. He stormed through the back offices of the clinic waving a (fake) gun, screaming the doctor’s name. As he exited the clinic, he said he was going to the hospital to shoot the first doctor he finds. When he arrived at the hospital, an alert had already been sounded and all staff and visitors were well hidden from sight. He pounded on the glass at the emergency registration desk, paced up and down the public hallways waving his (fake) gun for a couple minutes, and then yelled that he would shoot the first doctor he found in the parking lot. The angry man exited the hospital and began pacing out front while screaming obscenities and waving his (fake) gun. Meanwhile, Lincoln City Police Officers had been dispatched after clinic staff called 9-1-1 and set off the panic alert. Following their approved police protocols, they confronted the arm man outside the building, ordering him to put down his weapon. The man did not comply and aimed his (fake) gun at the officers, who then eliminated the threat with their weapons that, for this scenario, were also fake.
Even though this was just drill and the guns were fake, the angry man, portrayed by SNLH Medical/Surgical Nurse Bryan Sadler, was extremely convincing. In fact, after the drill he returned to the clinic to formally introduce himself and apologize for frightening them.
LCPD Sgt. Torin Liden and LCPD Officer KC Claunts portrayed the responding officers while other LCPD personnel observed the drill and acted as safety officers. The drill was organized by Mike Bowman, hospital emergency preparedness coordinator, and had LCPD personnel assisting in partnership to help make the drill as realistic as possible while keeping everyone’s safety the number one priority. Lesson learned from the successful drill will help to refine future protocols.
Submitted by: Lieutenant Jeffrey Winn