Impact of Implementation of a New Weapons Screening at an Urban Emergency Department

Violence in the emergency department (ED) setting is well documented in medical literature. Weapons can be used to cause significant injury or mortality, although there is a paucity of literature on weapons and weapons screening in the ED.

The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of initiating a weapons screening process on the identification and removal of weapons.

Multiple aspects of a weapons screening program were evaluated at 2 and 6 months prior to and after a weapons screening protocol was initiated at an urban ED. In the Pre-Screen periods, only patients primarily seeking care for mental health were screened prior to entry. In the Post-Screen periods, all patients and visitors were screened with walk-through magnetometers or wand metal detectors, and additional screening checks were initiated. The number of individuals screened and numbers of weapons found were measured. Descriptive statistics comparing Pre- and Post-Screen periods were performed.

Prior to the new screening process, 511 and 1701 patients primarily seeking care for mental health were screened, with 15 and 103 weapons confiscated at 2 and 6 months, respectively. After the screening process was initiated, 13,149 and 43,321 ED patients and visitors were screened, with 194 and 567 weapons confiscated at 2 and 6 months, respectively. Persons screened increased by 25-fold at both 2 and 6 months after implementing the screening process. Weapons confiscated increased approximately 13-fold and sixfold at the respective 2- and 6-month Pre- and Post-Screen periods, respectively.

Implementation of weapons screening significantly increased the number of weapons identified and confiscated prior to entry in the ED by patients and visitors.