BATAVIA TOWNSHIP, Ohio – Amid a rising pandemic tide of violence in hospitals, the Code SOS team at Mercy Health-Clermont Hospital realized one night this summer that they had found a way to reduce tensions when a patient felt calm enough to dance.
“We didn’t have to physically restrain her, or medicate her, and we were able to bring her back to a state of peace,” said Megan Birt, the hospital’s director of behavioral health.
“She just felt misunderstood,” said Nichole Hall, quality and problem manager for the hospital’s behavioral health program.
Birt, Hall, security officers and leaders of the emergency department at the Batavia hospital said they were moved to create Code SOS as a pilot project to address aggression in the emergency department before it turns violent.
In more than two months of operation, the code has been activated 14 times. In each case, the approach calmed a patient enough to get treatment without injuring staff workers. Birt said assaults in the emergency department have declined 30% since the team went to work.
