Newbie here!

[RCPractitioner]

Hi I have been a lurker for sometime and finally decided to register. I am always "lurking" at night being I work nights and don't have a whole lot else to do unless I am paged by the ER. I am CC licensed by the state of Texas and am a strong advocate of the privilege. Being in the healthcare profession I have been to many hospitals. I am currently employed by one with actual armed LEO's. I have always wondered though why we can't carry in hospitals, especially the ones with the "stop or I'll yell stop again" security guards. It seems to me that even though it has yet to happen in my career (a whopping 2 years out of school), that a hospital would be a prime target for BG's. There are drugs, and other things here that shouldn't fall into the wrong hands. I wish I could keep a weapon in my locker. Perhaps I am way off here, perhaps not. Either way just looking for some other opinions and I have now satisfied my desire to start a post!

 

[Ozzieman]

My guess that guns are a NONO there like in most places

Its for the hospitals protection from law sutes. Most places that would be a target like that care little for the people working there and everything for the all mighty buck that an accident would cost them.
Now if the Doctors were in some way threatend ( and I hope not) you would see armd guards all over the place.
Yet to protect your self you get, as you said so well "Stop or I'll yell again!"
Its like the shooting in the Court yesterday. If you listen to the news all you hear is the Criminal got a terrable gun and killed innocent people.
It was the gun at fault, the "EVIL" gun.
They dont talk about the person that should be slaped in jail for putting a 100 LB woman in charge of a 250 pound strong man that has a history of weapon charges and hurting people.
Granted its to bad some good man diddnt shot him dead, its the best that the bad guy deserves, and I hope he gives a fight when he is found and only one other person dies, him. BUt we need to look at the bigger picture, in the US crime DOES pay, we have lawyers and courts that make it that way. There was a man exicuted here in Indiana Thursday by lethial injection. He went into a house and killed 4 people, 2 of them children. He was caught the same day.
He died yesterday.
He commited the crime 22 years ago.
And your going to try to tell me Crime dosent pay.
It cost you and me the taxpayer $70,000 a year to keep him alive.
A 25 cent bullet would have been a much better idea.

 

[seeker_two]

Ozzieman got it in one.

Most hospitals are more concerned about avoiding lawsuits & keeping the profit margin high (like it or not, health care is a BUSINESS) than allowing their employees (which can be replaced w/ a simple ad in the paper) to protect their own safety.

Look at the recent kidnapping at Wal-Mart. After that, the company started having the employees escorted to their vehicles after dark & started monitoring the security cameras OUTSIDE the store (rather than only looking for the shoplifters INSIDE). Question: if this needed to be done NOW, why wasn't it done BEFORE?

You're responsible for your own safety. Make your own decisions....

 

[w4klr]

Can you imagine the suits to follow in the following situation:

1. BG brandishes a weapon because he needs his fix of whatever
2. You pull your peice and fire at him several times
3. One of your bullets missed him because you were aiming for the shoulder, but hit an IV packet for someone in critical condition, the pressure from the expanding bullet forced more chemical from the IV into the patient than his body could handle, so now he is either paralyzed or dead...

Better leave the packing to the LEO, the department can afford the suit easier than you or I

 

[Barry in IN]

My wife works in a small hospital (Pharmacist) and it scares me to death. It seems when I was a kid, there were a lot of reports of Drs and Pharmacists getting held up for drugs. That would've been the early '70's.
Maybe the BGs learned that there isn't that much accessible. My wife's hospital is small, so they don't keep much "serious" stuff around. Besides, they can get things delivered within an hour or two as needed, so they don't bother to keep much on hand.

Still, I worry. I think she worrys more than she lets on. She gets concerned now and then, but is afraid to go armed at work due to the regulations.
I guess you have to weigh the risks.
When one of my co-workers started making death threats one night, I started forgetting to leave my J-frame in the car.