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Hospital increases security days after stabbing of 2 employees

SSM Health DePaul Hospital added a metal detector and a 24-hour security guard to the emergency department.

BRIDGETON, Mo. — SSM Health DePaul Hospital has increased security in its emergency department one week after a nurse and a paramedic were stabbed by a 30-year-old woman.

In a statement Monday morning, Brian Perkins, a spokesperson for SSM Health DePaul, said a security guard had been contracted to be in the emergency department around-the-clock.

A metal detector was also added to the emergency department.

DePaul, according to the statement, is the sixth hospital in the St. Louis area to add a metal detector in the emergency department. Four of the hospitals are within the SSM Health system, the statement said. 

In the statement, Perkins said the hospital had spent "several months conducting an extensive systemwide evaluation of our physical environments, while also seeking input from team members who participate in our workplace violence committees at the local and system level." 

As a result of the evaluation, the statement said, improvements will be made to the entire SSM Health system.

The statement said security would be increased with guards having more education and training. 

Additionally, "state-of-the-art" weapons detecting technology, which Perkins said is more advanced at detecting weapons than a traditional metal detector, is being implemented in "key areas" like entrances to emergency departments. 

The statement said the hospital system is also working to centralize and standardize security function and redesign "our current physical environments to further strengthen safety and security." 

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