Attack of nurse at Montreal General Hospital highlights security issues

Manuel Fernandes was livid when he heard of the alleged attack on the nurse at the Montreal General Hospital emergency room Saturday.

“I was very, very angry,” he said. “This is an issue we’ve brought to their attention.”

READ MORE: Nurse allegedly attacked by patient at Montreal General Hospital 

He is the interim president of the MUHC CSN employees’ union and he raised the issue of night shift security at the hospital with management in late June, but wasn’t happy with the response.

“According to the coordinator for Emergency Services, everything was fine; there was sufficient staff,” Fernandes said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "According to the coordinator for Emergency Services, everything was fine; there was sufficient staff," Fernandes said.

It was a psychiatric patient who allegedly tried to strangle a nurse early Saturday.  She was knocked to the ground but was eventually rescued by other hospital staff.

Though there is usually a security guard stationed in the main emergency area, there was no overnight security in the psychiatric unit that night. This, plus staff cuts, creates a dangerous security gap, according to the unions.

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“Before, we had PABs, which are orderlies, on the floors. But there have been job cuts and they’ve cut or completely eliminated the orderlies who would participate in code whites,” Fernandes said.

A code white team, which is trained to respond to violent situations, consists of PABs, other staff and security.  But now there are fewer of them on a code white team, and not all have the proper training.

At the same time ,attacks on staff have increased.  There are code whites daily and injuries vary from concussions to broken jaws and teeth knocked out.

“It’s a very serious situation,” Fernandes said. “We have a PAB now who will probably end up with permanent limitations because of the trauma that he’s suffered during code whites.”

Patients are also at risk, the union says.

Union leaders say because the Montreal General is a trauma centre, security should be taken more seriously.

Nurses’ union president Denyse Joseph notes that the hospital gets patients from downtown.

“We get intoxicated patients, we get gang patients, or bikers.  So we have everything.  The risk is there.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "We get intoxicated patients, we get gang patients, or bikers.  So we have everything.  The risk is there."

They want to see an extra security person at night in the emergency psychiatric unit and another permanently stationed in the main emergency area to help prevent another attack.

Fernandes thinks someone should be held accountable for what just took place and that it’s about the safety of patients and staff in the end.

Joseph agrees.

“They always raise the fact that there’s no budget.  But there’s places where there should not be budget cuts.”