Hospital plans armed intruder drill

If you see emergency response vehicles at Samaritan North Lincoln Hospital in Lincoln City in the early evening hours this Friday, April 26, don’t worry — it’s only a drill.

“Practice is vitally important to ensure proper action is taken when a real emergency response is required,” said Malcom Rutherford, security coordinator for Samaritan Health Services, who is overseeing this educational activity.

“The drill will be a slow walk-through with the goal of educating all staff on the appropriate response to an armed intruder,” he added. “Ultimately, we want all patients, staff and visitors to be as safe as they possibly can be if the worst-case scenario were to ever happen here.”

The active portion of the armed intruder drill will begin at about 6 p.m. It will focus on the Samaritan Early Learning Center and will impact the entire hospital campus. The simulated “shooter” will be portrayed by an actor holding a clearly fake weapon colored bright orange.

All area emergency management and emergency services staff from throughout the county have been notified, with many agencies participating in the drill, including county emergency call center, police, sheriff’s deputies, ambulance and hospital staff.

This armed intruder drill was originally scheduled to take place on Jan. 12 but was postponed because of winter weather.