ER security law: Here’s 2 things every Virginia Emergency Department Medical Director must do right now
By Jeff Kelley, VACEP Communications
A new Virginia law that goes into effect July 1 will bring 24/7 trained security to every ED in the state.
The regulations update existing Virginia code to make it clear that every Virginia emergency department – not merely every hospital – must create a security assessment and risk plan, and have off-duty police officers or security personnel in the ER at all times. Virginia’s health commissioner may grant a waiver from the “at all times” requirement if the facility can show from a plan that they only need security at certain hours.
This law is a first-of-its-kind in the nation to combat workplace violence in ERs. A bill to create the new regulation was introduced by VACEP and successfully passed the 2023 Virginia General Assembly.
The pediatric ED at UVA Health. Under new Virginia regulations that go into effect July 1, every ED in Virginia must have a security plan and 24/7 trained security. VACEP introduced a first-of-its-kind bill in the nation to put security in every Virginia emergency department in an effort to stop workplace violence.
If you are an emergency department medical director (or, for that matter, an ER nurse director), it’s not only in your best interests to be involved in this process — your participation is required by state law.
Take these steps right now to ensure your ED stays compliant and, more importantly, that your teams are safe.
Contact hospital administration. Every Virginia ED medical director must be part of the discussions. From the regulatory language, hospitals must outline “risks for the emergency department identified in consultation with the emergency department medical director and nurse director.” Risks are based on trauma level designation, overall patient volume of psychiatric and forensic patients, incidents of violence against staff, level of injuries sustained from such violence, and prevalence of crime in the community.
Develop a plan specific to your ED. Under language of the regulation, plans must be “developed using standards established in the Healthcare Security Industry Guidelines, 13th Edition (International Association for Healthcare Security and Safety).” Here’s a link to those.
Here’s more on the new law and others that go into effect July 1.
Here are the drafted regulations that will be incorporated into the Code of Virginia.
Questions? Reach out to Aimee Perron Seibert, who manages VACEP government affairs.
