Hospitalized and helpless
There has been a story on the news and in the paper here about a man who went into one of our local hospitals and sexually assaulted a woman with a disability. One of the local television stations wondered how the woman could have protected herself, or how her family could have protected her. Staff at our Center were interviewed, and suggested that people could let the hospital know that they don’t want their room number made public. Another way, they said, was if a person’s personal care attendant could be with them. Presently, that is not allowed in any hospital that I know of, and folks with disabilities have said that they did not receive proper care, and their health suffered as a result. That is, in fact, true. I saw this with my father, who has a brain injury as a result of a heart attack. He could not commincate coherently, and so he was almost never fed unless my mum fed him. Indeed, almost nothing was done for him, and he often caught virulent infections while in the hospital.
Anyway, while I thought that these were good suggestions, I am incensed because I feel that the first line of protection should have come from the hospital, itself. After all, unless someone is on a 24 hour deathwatch, or if someone is a star or under police protection, it is impossible to have someone in the room with a patient at all times.
What is especially shameful is that this hospital — and I’m going to go ahead and name it, since they are all over the news — Strong Memorial, had a history with this man. He has been banned from being anywhere on the property for the last 15 years because he kept trespassing on their property. He was arrested twice in the past several years, and did some jail time for it. Then, on March 16th, he entered the hospital, donned a volunteer smock, and entered the room of a woman who was paralyzed from the waist down, and raped her.
Of course, the assailant said that the sex was consentual, that he knew the woman, and that he was asked by the woman’s sister to visit her. He also said that he was a volunteer at the hospital. This guy must be high on something if he expect anyone to believe his story.
Strong Memorial has responded to this incident by requiring all of their volunteers to have photo ID’s, which will eventually be upgraded to swipe cards so that only they will be able to get into the rooms where volunteer smocks are stored.
The administrators at Strong must be smoking something if they think that this will truely address the problem. It won’t. Someone could steal a volunteer’s ID, or make a fake one. Also, they haven’t said a word aboutwho will be checking ID’s at the door. Also, when they do the ID’s, how will they know that the person getting the ID is, in fact, a volunteer, and not someone off of the street?
In my opinion, the first line of defense is not technology, but a real, live human being. There shold be a security guard at the front entrance of the hospital to check visitors, staff, and volunteers in, and to note where within the hospital they are going. Perhaps, the ID could be connected via computer to a hospital database that would contain all of these photos, as well as flags or alerts of people who have been banned for whatever reason. I also feel that a security guard should be stationed on each floor just in case someone manages to get past the front door security. As for security, I believe that those folks should be off-duty police officers, or someone with military training, because from what I hear, a lot of security guards are scaredy-cats, who are scared of people, and will disappear at the first sign of what they perceive to be danger. That’s why I suggest moonlighting cops, or ex-military personnel. Also, Strong would have to pay these guards a good living wage, or they won’t feel that $6.50-$10.00 an hour is enough to risk their life for.
Ultimately, Strong Hospital will have to come up with a better solution to protect thier patients. Once someone comes into the hospital, their thoughts should be on getting well, not worrying about being safe when they are most vulnerable.