September 13, 2019

Phil Roe
102 Cannon House Office Building
United States House of Representatives/United State Senator
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225- 5714

Dear Phil Roe,

As a nursing student preparing to enter the healthcare profession, I want to address the
concern of gun safety in hospitals. Gun violence is something, that sadly, keeps reoccurring in
increasingly alarming numbers every day. There is a need for safety and preparedness programs
today, more than ever before. Although gun violence is not something that has specifically been
an issue in our local area of Johnson City, it does not mean that in the future it could not happen.
I want to stress the importance of how to increase safety towards medical staff in hospitals. Gun
violence is something that cannot be predicted, so there must be safety and plans put in place for
when disasters, such as gun violence, occur. Ballad health has a code silver code which includes
a no gun law in hospitals, run, hide, fight, when there is an active shooter.
When there is an active shooter Ballad says to use paging systems and call 911 to alert staff
that there is an active shooter (Ballad Health, 2019). Ballad provides a panic and urgent
broadcast on the vocera, which I believe is extremely important in seeking help (Ballad Health,
2019). OSHA provides hospitals with safety training and checklists for staffing and procedures
during an active shooter disaster (Rosen, 2015).
I agree with the protocols and laws Ballad and OSHA already have set in a plan for a
disaster. These protocols and laws protect patients and staff, by allowing staff members to know
what to do, when to do it, and who is to do specific tasks in order to get staff and patients to a
safe place. While all those are very important steps that need to be taken, there needs to be more
safety measures put in place. According to the Occupational Health Safety Network, from
January 1st, 2012- September 30th, 2014 workplace violence increased for all non-physician job
titles (Dawson, 2015).
The workplace violence double for those in a nursing position (Dawson,2015). I believe this
is happening because there are not enough safety precautions being taken (Barab,2015).
Hospitals are targeted due to the large population, mental illnesses, and revenge for family
members. Nurses are a huge target during these situations due to nurses being the personnel
spending the most time with family members. Joint commission states that during an active
shooting nurses should remove themselves from patients, due to them being targets (Kendig,
2015).
 To help increase safety to nurses, I believe there should be a law that at least one medical
personnel on each unit carry a gun, in case of an emergency. There is no safe place to go on the
individual units, and the emergency department during active shootings. Patient doors do not
lock and there is not enough equipment that can be placed in front of a patient door to prevent
the shooter from coming in. This leaves both staff and patients at risk. Having a law passed that
one member can carry a concealed weapon while at work, and store it in a secure place, would be
extremely beneficial. Employees would feel more secure, and when the hospital does have a
shooter, there is a better chance for staff and patients to defend themselves.
This issue is very important, and something that needs to be taken very seriously. I would like
to see a law passed keep patients and medical staff safer and preventing disasters from occurring.
Thank you for taking the time to read over my concerns and thoughts towards gun violence in
hospitals. If you would like to discuss this issue further, please feel free to give me a call.

Sincerely,
Allison Saddler
ETSU Nursing Student BSN Program
299 River Road
Bluff City TN. 37618
(423) 366-4111