More security measures are expected to continue popping up in more Nova Scotia emergency rooms as safety continues to be an issue, according to the Executive Director of Health Services in Nova Scotia’s Central Zone.

Lori Sanderson tells our newsroom they are taking look at hospitals across the province to figure out a plan.

“We’re doing an assessment at each site and trying to determine what the security and safety issues are and trying to put things in place to resolve some of the issues that staff and physicians are seeing in each of their departments.”

This week, patients entering the emergency department at the Dartmouth General will be searched with handheld metal detectors.

Sanderson says the move comes as part of tackling security issues at the QEII’s Halifax Infirmary ER, which started out the same way.

“We’re not installing a metal detector. We will be screening for weapons using wands, which is exactly the way we started out the process at the Infirmary before we got the metal detector in place.”

There has also been an assessment done at the Cobequid site.

New security measures going well at Infirmary

Metal detectors at the Infirmary emergency department were installed last month after a stabbing at the hospital’s ER in January- visitors also now have to wear a badge.

Health Service Director, Kate McWilliams tell us, having the metal detectors in place is going well.

“It’s been well received by staff. There have been many objects removed from patients and visitors that could be as weapons or could be used as potential weapons.”

McWilliams says there has been a little bit of “pushback” from some people when removing the items, but they deal with that on a case-by-case basis.

What objects have been removed?

McWilliams says it’s wide range of things and although she didn’t have the exact number, it’s been “surprisingly high”.

“It could be knives. It could be other items that could be used as weapons such as nail files.”

Are things slowing down?

McWilliams says it is a bit slower to get into the Infirmary ER with these new measures, unless you have an urgent medical issue, then you are “ushered” through quicker.

Whether there is a line up or not, she says, not only depends on the time of day, but is typical for triage or registration.

And whether or not staff feel safer, she says, they are getting a lot of positive feedback.