There was no loud bang. Just a sudden tension and sense of wrong as a flood of officers rushed through the ER and Code Gray was repeated overhead.
A patient in custody was brought in, after being off meth for 2 days. He wasn't getting it in jail, and he was not going to get it in the hospital. He was refusing all treatment, and finally decided to sign out of the hospital AMA.
Ironically, the risks noted for signing out AMA included Death.
The patient had both hands handcuffed to the bed. The deputies escorting him uncuffed one hand so he could sign the AMA. That's when the patient lunged for a gun on one of the deputies. The nurse ran out. And the other deputy shoots the patient in the head.
The patient is on the floor, one hand still hanging handcuffed to the gurney, a bullet hole is through his head, and there is blood and brain all over the floor. Two nurses run back in and in a panic, one screams, "What are we supposed to do?" And the other yells, "Call the doctor!" The doctor comes in, checks the patient's pulse, and pronounces his death.
The area is closed off, the police start interviewing everyone, they close the ER to all BLS and ALS runs, and management tells the staff they can go home if they want to. From a crew of 21, only three nurses stay to man the rooms, one triage nurse for walk-ins, the charge nurse, one EMT, and two unit secretaries.
At 2 in the morning, the ER manager and Medical Director come in. News camera crews set up outside the ER.
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