Threat assesment team’s objective – protect campus

As an academic medical center, one that’s also designated as a trauma center, thousands of people visit our campus each day.

These factors can sometimes pose a security risk. Those risks could involve anyone from a family member upset about a patient outcome to gang violence that spills into our emergency department.

Call security about threats If you receive a verbal or written threat, call Campus Security at 559-5111. It is everyone’s responsibility to report troubling or suspicious behavior.

Because of these vulnerabilities, hospital and university leaders created a campus-wide Threat Assessment Team two years ago.

“The goal is to have a formalized best practice for handling any potential threat,” said Deb Thomas, associate vice chancellor of business and finance at UNMC.

Threats come from all angles

A potential threat could present itself in different ways. It could involve someone receiving a verbal threat or one we receive via law enforcement, for example.

“When one of our staff members feels threatened, their first move should always be to call security right away,” said Cindy Owen, vice president of corporate affairs for The Nebraska Medical Center. “Security will respond and then decide if the threat is serious enough to be escalated further.”

How the team is activated

Escalation would involve notifying Thomas and Owen to evaluate the situation and determine if the Threat Assessment Team should be activated.

If so, the team will conduct interviews, review student or employee records, consider possible motivational factors and target factors among other measures. They will then determine the best way to respond.

Multifaceted team helps meet threats

The team is made up of an incident commander from both UNMC and the hospital and includes members from security, risk management, safety and public relations.

“We want staff to know we’ve thought this through and we have a plan to protect their safety,” Owen said.