Jane Ann Morrison

ICU 'drill' -- with real gun -- was a lawsuit waiting to happen

In a world overflowing with dumb ideas, this one was extraordinarily stupid.

Let's send a cop undercover into a hospital's intensive care unit, waving a real gun, and see how the staff reacts. But let's not tell anyone it's an emergency preparedness drill.

That's exactly what officials at St. Rose Dominican Hospital-Siena Campus did on May 24 . You may recall news accounts.

You knew it was a lawsuit in waiting. On April 20, three ICU nurses and a respiratory therapist sued the hospital, off-duty cop Charles Yannis, Chief Operating Officer Teressa Conley and three members of the Emergency Management Committee, Bernard Jones, Kim Dokken and Matthew Berhold.

Jones, then the chief of security, was fired. Dokken, trauma and stroke program director, and Berhold, rehabilitation services director, were placed on administrative leave and booted off the Emergency Management Committee.

The lawsuit -- filed by nurses Keri Standish, Anne Hale and Barbara Ruggiero and respiratory therapist Marcus Day -- describes how each one feared he or she was going to die that day after an angry man entered the ICU and began waving a gun.

According to the lawsuit filed in District Court by local attorney L.J. Semenza, Yannis pointed his gun at Standish's face from a distance of 3 or 4 feet and ordered her into a break room. Ultimately, he forced eight staff members, including Standish, Hale and Day and two physicians, into this break room. One weeping nurse asked whether she could call her children to say goodbye and was told no.

Can you imagine the terror they must have felt during the 15 to 20 minutes this lasted?

During the drill, there had been intercom announcements of Code Grey (which meant a call for security) and then a Code Silver (meaning there was someone with a weapon in the hospital).

Nurse Hale, hearing Code Silver, walked down the hallway to attend an ill patient and close doors to patient rooms. Yannis pointed a gun at her chest from a distance of seven or eight steps, the lawsuit alleged.

Citing safety concerns, Hale resigned June 8 , effective on July 10, yet the hospital terminated her as part of a reorganization after she submitted her resignation. She was told to repay the hospital $4,176, a portion of a relocation loan. Her claim includes retaliation.

Therapist Day is a Vietnam veteran who worked at the UCLA Medical Center in the late 1980s when four people were shot and killed. He thought he was going to die this time and has since had reoccurring flashbacks of Vietnam, the lawsuit alleged.

ICU nurse Ruggiero feared for her life after hearing the two codes on the hospital intercom and being told there was a gunman in ICU.

Remember, this was the same Henderson hospital where on March 11, 2009, a man entered the emergency room with a gun and threatened suicide before he was shot and killed by police.

Several staffers, including Day, told the Bureau of Health Care Quality and Compliance they believed patient care was affected. But the bureau later concluded "no delay in care, treatment and services was identified." The lawsuit disputes those findings.

The defendants are accused of civil conspiracy, assault, false imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress, intentional misrepresentation, fraud, and breach of contract.

The hospital had no comment on the pending litigation.

Can't wait to hear their reasoning for a drill that made employees think death was imminent.

Yet, it could have been worse.

This is Nevada, where people with concealed-weapons permits can carry guns.

That cop is lucky he didn't get his head blown off.

Jane Ann Morrison's column appears Monday, Thursday and Saturday. E-mail her at Jane@reviewjournal.com or call (702) 383-0275. She also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/morrison.

Comments

Note: Comments made by reporters and editors of the Las Vegas Review-Journal are presented with a yellow background.

1. Nurse with a firearm May 13, 2011 | 5:36 p.m. Report Abuse

   "The events during this drill are highly exaggerated and some even false."
   
   Really? For those present, it certainly wasn't. It's amazing how someone who was there has an absolutely different and truthful perception, and some armchair computer who may have heard from a friend of a friend knows the story in detail. Awesome. Omniscient, in fact.

2. JC13 May 4, 2011 | 9:34 p.m. Report Abuse

   The events during this drill are highly exaggerated and some even false. Why would anyone read the news if it was boring, right? Even if planned poorly, the intent of the drill was to practice security responses for staff and patients' safety. Everyone deals with stress differently. Suing someone for every bad experience a person endures would certainly keep attorneys happy, but not much more.
   By the way, the Director of Radiology is a man.

3. Nurse with a firearm May 2, 2011 | 9:32 p.m. Report Abuse

   A posted sign holds no absolute legal power (theaters, banks, casinos, etc), unless accompanied by metal detectors. The only action that could be taken if you were somehow found with a firearm (concealed means concealed) would be to trespass you.

4. Gary.G, May 1, 2011 | 1:21 p.m. Report Abuse

   With a valid CCW permit, a weapon can be carried into a bank, casino (as long as there is not a day care facility inside), and a hospital (as long as the building is not owned by a government entity), grocery stores, etc., and most public buildings. All these would be exempt if there is a notice at the entrance that firearms are not allowed. Exemptions are schools(without special permission), post offices, courthouses (unless your a judge or security) ,police stations,state or federal buildings.

5. Nurse with a firearm May 1, 2011 | 8:15 a.m. Report Abuse

   Just4me, please educate yourself before you attempt to educate others. This type of ignorance is astounding:
   " Besides that, if you are a civilian, it is illegal to carry a weapon (with permit or not) into a hospital, bank or a casino. So sadly, if something even more tragic would have occurred, that "Good Samaritan" would probably be facing prosecution."
   
   Review: NRS 202.3673, NRS 202.320, NRS 202.265 NRS 200.120, NRS 200.130, NRS 200.150, NRS 200.160
   
   UMC would be the only hospital in Las Vegas where it would be illegal to have a firearm (public building)

6. Rightwinger11 May 1, 2011 | 12:19 a.m. Report Abuse

   Why exactly is this dumba** columnist stating personal opinion? Way to go RJ. I'm filling a law suit saying I'm emotionally distraught because of her blunt opinionated publishing.

7. justme4 Apr. 30, 2011 | 9:58 p.m. Report Abuse

   @TJ, you obviously have some anger issues of your own, but I am not wrong. I do happen to know the Director through a mutual friend and I am very sure that she is a woman. Besides that, if you are a civilian, it is illegal to carry a weapon (with permit or not) into a hospital, bank or a casino. So sadly, if something even more tragic would have occurred, that "Good Samaritan" would probably be facing prosecution.

8. gary Apr. 30, 2011 | 8:52 p.m. Report Abuse

   This goes beyond stupid. As the author indicated, an individual carrying a firearm on the premise could have pumped Yannis full of hot lead, and there would be no recourse for prosecuting the well-intentioned civilian. There's something fishy about this entire ordeal. This could have been a staged event, specifically designed to divvy-up the lawsuit settlement between all the players involved. Think about it, how stupid of an idea could this be. Unless, of course, big bucks were in the workings all along. This should be fully investigated. The costs of this lawsuit will be paid by the overburdened public in the end.

9. Joe C Apr. 30, 2011 | 5:34 p.m. Report Abuse

   @TJ.Elder,, Sorry but the stupidity of this drill is beyond belief. We never know who has a permit to carry a concealed weapon. What, IF, an innocent bystander with a gun permit sees what’s going down and fires as the clueless person points the gun at the nurse. While as you say too many take the drills light heartedly; it’s hardly excuses such completely moronic actions that could have easily ended up with someone unnecessarily hurt, or worse. Honestly we do honor our vets but I get the impression these vets didn’t work in military intelligence. You saying, you wish you could carry a weapon is the exact reason a clandestine drill is pure stupidity as some people can carry weapons and do even in hospitals visiting sick friends. Really this drill is a dumb as the ATF recent sting (lol) allowing Mexican drug cartels to buy weapons here and take the guns into Mexico with the intentions of stopping guns from entering Mexico. Frigging crazy anymore.

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