Hospital Shooting

A cardiac surgeon was shot at Brigham and Women's Hospital several days ago. He did not survive. This story went viral in my social circles, especially since I know so many physicians. It spawned the gamut of reactions: terror, fear, shock, sadness, grief, anger. I, myself, felt shock and disbelief. There have always been vague warnings about our safety, but they've always been the typical sorts of things: concealing valuables in the car, watching for strangers after dark, not leaving laptops unattended. I've never considered myself a bigger target because I'm a physician. I have been aware of drills for "hospital shooting" including a special "code" alert for it. But, in my mind, it's always been a theoretical thing, a due diligence by the hospital to cover all its bases.

Episodes like this are terrifying because they ground into reality what was previously simply theory. How could we be in a world with violent crime against physicians? Yet considering that the perpetrator of this crime had two family members die in the hospital with perceived misadventures (whether this is true is not clear, but I would guess unlikely), we can at least guess at a motive, even if we can never be certain. I never consider as consequence for my clinical decisions and actions a threat to my safety, and it's horrifying that this could be the case. Perhaps better bedside manners, patient and family interactions, and compassionate care would not have swayed the perpetrator otherwise. Perhaps stronger gun control laws, increased security, more frequent crisis training would have changed the outcome. We may never know, but we must not stop trying to do the right thing and to protect our clinicians. My thoughts with the victim's community and my sincerest hope that this is an isolated incident.