By Healthcare Facilities Today

The Concord Police Department will act out an active shooter scenario at Concord Hospital, putting hospital staff and emergency responders to the test by simulating a crisis, according to an article on the Concord Monitor website.

The exercise, which will take place this spring, will be funded by a $23,300 grant from the state’s Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.

The hospital re-evaluated its own safety policies after the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., in 2012, Chief Operating Officer Joseph Conley said in the article.

“It seemed a prudent thing for us to think about, and when we started to think about it a little bit, we realized we could probably be more prepared,” Conley said in the article. “The probability of something is pretty low, but the consequences of having something happen are pretty awful.”

The hospital began to revise its “Code Silver” policy, or how staff are supposed to respond to an active shooter in the building. Concord Hospital management has been working with the police department to come up with a plan. In the spring they will practice what nine months of training has taught them.

The exercise will not disrupt either patient care or police activity. 

Read the article.