Community Medical Center Performs Code Silver Drill

An employee of Community Medical Center was fired this morning, and when the ER Director led him to his locker to gather his things, he pulled out a gun and starting firing.

At least that was the scenario for this morning’s active shooter (Code Silver) drill at the hospital, which occurred at 10 a.m.

“[To] provide a safe and secure environment for patients, employees, and visitors,” is the Code Silver policy statement, and Plant Operations Director Gilberto Davilla is making sure he does just that.

“We needed to find out what areas the hospital was weak in and prepare for events that can occur on a day-to-day basis,” he said. “Hospitals are one of the public places that people can get in and go after somebody.”

During the drill, a video of an active shooter scenario was shown to employees of Community Medical Center, and then exercises were performed to see how much they remembered from the video. Davilla stated that one of his goals is to familiarize his team with quicker ways to react to different situations.

He noted, “We need a little bit more than one session so we can have a quicker reaction.”

The active shooter drill is only one of 25 different situations that Community Medical Center staff practice. Davilla said he is looking to make the hospital a safer place for patients and employees.

“I want us to do the best for the institution and make this place as safe as possible,” he stated.

With the patients and public in mind, Davilla and his staff made sure to notify the public about what would take place.

“We had SAPD here to make sure that nobody thinks that it is a real situation,” he stated. “We started handing out flyers last night to the patients and visitors so that everybody would know what is going on.”

Additionally, SAPD sent out a mobile alert to the public so citizens in the area wouldn't think there was a real crisis happening.