Yesterday I got to work & was told there was just a shooting at our sister hospital...someone got shot in the parking garage. I didn't know what to think. Like why of all places...a hospital parking garage? I was able to get in touch with someone that was working there that night & she informed me that it was a surgeon that had been shot. The news was reporting that both the shooter and the victim were in critical condition.
It wasn't long before I found out the shooter died. Silently I thought...GOOD. What kind of person murders a surgeon in cold blood? Not just any type of surgeon, but a transplant surgeon. Those type of surgeons perform nothing short of miracles. Their glory isn't in the money they make, but in the lives they save.
Our hospital is well known for having a dream team of a transplant team. It's a small team, but a great one. Last year...the 4 surgeons & the rest of their team transplanted 3 livers and 5 kidneys. They also harvested 2 hearts, 4 livers, 4 sets of kidneys & a pancreas in ONE weekend. They are awesome people. Yeah, it's not much compared to the big hospitals in this country, but for Florida...it was recordsetting & it shows their commitment to doing what they love...helping people get a new chance at life.
Back to Thursday night...a disgruntled patient...hunted down one of the surgeons & shot him in the hospital parking lot. It happened with other people around. We know for certain the surgeon was the target, because thankfully, the shooter didn't shoot anyone else....besides himself a few minutes later.
They both died.
Things aren't supposed to happen like this. Anyone involved in health care knows we are in a vulnerable profession. We try our best to help people who are feeling their worst. Sometimes we end up having to care for people that are not mentally stable. We all know the risks...mostly in the form of abuse...physically &/or emotionally. It's a given. Not everyone is going to like you. We don't expect to be murdered because of our job.
We were talking about it last night at work....at any given time, anyone can walk into our hospital & just start shooting. I guess that can happen anywhere (and does). I can only hope that this does not become more common. I'm not going to say we should have better security because of what happened. I doubt any amount of security could have changed what happened Thursday evening. If someone really wants to hurt you, chances are more on their side of it happening than ours.
Still though, it's not right.
RIP Dr. N.
2 comments:
God, that is awful! You are so right- we always have patients and family member who take out their fear/frustration/anger at us. Face it, we are an easy target. We are the ones who say they have something we can't fix, we are the ones that don't give them the answers they want. Horrible. I am so sorry.
I am so sorry and am praying for the families involved. You are right, seems like no where is a safe place to work anymore. take care and God bless.
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