Bridging the gap: interagency task force

Admission of in-custody patients into an overtaxed emergency department is often frustrating for both law enforcement and ED staff. To facilitate collaboration between law enforcement and ED staff, it would be advantageous to initiate a professional interagency task force. To justify the need for such a task force, a random survey of hospital and law enforcement personnel was undertaken. Result of this survey revealed major misconceptions by both sides concerning the other's role. One common area of overwhelming agreement between the agencies was the need for such a task force. The data suggest the urgent need for mutually agreed upon policies and procedures for in-custody patients for both agencies to provide a safe environment for all involved.