The armed incursion into hospitals and health centers uncovers the vulnerabilities in terms of security that these establishments have at a time when criminal groups are trying to gain space and operate at all hours, without caring about the collateral victims.
Although the national government launched the Silver Code a few weeks ago, created to prevent armed attacks on health centers and units, security experts affirm that additional actions are required.
The code prioritizes those health centers located in places of greatest danger or reference sites for the care of persons deprived of liberty. The initial stage of the plan brings together 18 hospitals and health centers.
The attack inside the facilities of a private clinic in the north of Guayaquil, which was sheltering a wounded man for attempted murder, once again uncovered the security needs of the establishments, said Galo Estrella, a security specialist and director of the Chamber of Guayaquil trade.
The two foreigners detained for an armed attack in the hospital gave custody to Carlos Omar K. and had entered as relatives
Hitmen entered the clinic and confronted Carlos K’s guards. In the action, a man died in the hospital elevator.
“It was noted that there are no protocols and that, in the midst of the wave of violence, the clinics are not exempt from armed attacks,” he said.
The Omni Hospital, a private health center where the armed attack took place, pointed out that as a hospital it complies with security protocols, which “unfortunately were violated by the armed violence of people who forcibly broke into the facilities in a group.”
The establishment indicated that the protocol was activated to contact the 911 system, which allowed the displacement of the police to take control of the situation. In addition, systems were reinforced to provide security for patients and staff.
For Estrella, this last violent act also revealed a mistake by the Police. “It was already known that there was a very high risk due to the victim’s background. The Police were negligent in not guarding her, ”she indicated.
Custody of those injured by firearms, knives, or known to be related to criminal acts or drug trafficking would be the short-term measure that should be implemented, according to the expert.
Estrella adds that it would be somewhat utopian to believe that all the health units can be monitored by the police and that private security is going to confront organized crime.
“The (police) resources must be focused on specific cases, so that in this way they can be rationalized. Put together a specific security scheme for this type of event, there with uniformed men with rifles to be able to face criminals. For example, if an injured person from an assassination attempt is received at a health center, immediately have police officers in the room and at the entrance to the establishment as a preventive measure, ”he said.
Security expert Abraham Correa agrees with this measure. For example, he explained, if surveillance is already carried out when a prisoner who has been injured is admitted, the same action should be carried out for those people who are detected as coming from assassination attempts due to retaliation.
A measure that can also be implemented, said Correa, is the installation of weapons or metal detection arches at the entrances of hospitals and clinics, especially in the visiting area. In this sense, he urges the Government and the owners of private clinics and hospitals to plan investments for devices that have this technology.
Armed subjects who were traveling on motorcycles caused anxiety outside the Mount Sinai hospital; The Police executed an operation in this situation
According to the expert, it is unthinkable that all income can be ‘shielded’ due to the number of people that an establishment receives daily; but it is feasible to increase surveillance in the areas where the attackers have entered the hospitals.
Likewise, he indicated, clinics and hospitals can be divided into wards to allocate areas where these patients are treated.
He cited the case of May 2021 when people entered a clinic in the north of Guayaquil without any problem and murdered a woman who was hospitalized. The perpetrators entered the sanatorium with a long firearm.
“The wave of violence is unstoppable and what has to be done is to deal with it with mechanisms that are viable in the short term,” said Correa. (YO)
Source: Eluniverso
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