Like in the aftermath of a school shooting, last Thursday morning's violence at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, when a patient's son shot and injured a doctor then killed his mother and himself, left many wondering how such a thing could happen in a place where the focus is to help and heal those in need.
"I think it can happen to any doctor," says Mark Morocco, assistant professor and associate residency director of emergency medicine at UCLA Medical Center. "You never know when weapons have slipped through security into a protected space."
The event left many questioning, was it a random act of violence by an unstable patient who felt hopeless and angry about a parent's medical situation, or does it reflect an increasing frustration among patients dealing with a broken health care system? What's more, what support and training are doctors and medical staff given to help them handle high-stress patient situations and cope with the fallout of such events?