Insights from Evidence-Based Medicine Method for Building Security Systems Against Terrorist Attacks in Hospitals

Abstract

Hospitals have become soft targets for terrorism, with increasing terrorist attacks observed in the last two decades. Not only the counter-terrorism and law enforcement agencies but the hospitals also need to be actively involved and undertake the responsibility of safeguarding hospital security by establishing an effective security system. Evidence-based medicine emphasizes the significance of scientific evidence, and in practice, research methods for the generation, collection, and utilization of evidence may offer new insights to overcome the issue of terrorism. The present study discusses the potential application of methods in evidence-based medicine for developing security systems against terrorist attacks in hospitals. First, hospitals can use simulated scenarios of terrorist attacks to generate evidence. For example, combining virtual technology with virtual reality technology and selecting appropriate algorithms or models to generate evidence. Second, they can apply tabletop exercises to propose measures, as a means of collecting evidence. The collection of data can be obtained through questionnaires or interviews. Some biological methods, such as collecting salivary markers of acute stress (α-amylase and secretory immunoglobulin A), can also be used to assess emotional states. Third, they can use the collected evidence to practically test and refine the implemented measures. To verify the effectiveness and feasibility of the formulated solutions in real-life scenarios, simulations, models, drills, and similar methods can be used. This approach may provide new perspectives for the development of hospital security systems.

Keywords:

• hospital security against terrorist attacks
• security system development
• evidence-based medicine method

Disclosure

Neither author had any personal, financial, commercial, or academic conflicts of interest in this work.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, specifically the project titled “Research on Security Technology Systems and Applications for Preventing Terrorist Attacks in Key Units Based on Risk Assessment” (No. 2019JKF110).