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New London — Three fights that broke out downtown as crowds were clearing the city after the Sailfest fireworks show Saturday night resulted in the stabbing of two men and various injuries to seven others. The fights were followed by confrontations between friends and relatives of the nine victims who gathered at the emergency room at Lawrence & Memorial Hospital as they were being treated.
The pushing, shoving and arguing among emergency room visitors was brought under control by L&M security guards and New London police with the help of a dozen state police troopers. No one was injured and no arrests were made, said New London police Capt. William D. Dittman. The troopers were already in town assisting with fireworks traffic control when they were redirected to L&M.
Although it was quickly brought under control, the potentially dangerous situation in the emergency room underscored concerns that hospital nurses have raised over the last several months about the need to improve hospital security, according to officials for the union that represents them.
The three fights occurred just hours after a car driven by an elderly man struck 28 fairgoers in downtown New London, sending 27 of the victims to L&M and one to The William W. Backus Hospital in Norwich.
Dealing with the second multiple casualty incident in the same day coupled with the unruly crowd that gathered in the waiting room not only was an extreme test of the emergency room staff but demonstrated it could handle the worst, said Ron Kersey, emergency medical services coordinator at L&M.
“I've been with the hospital for 18 years, and we have not faced this magnitude of incidents in one day before,” said Kersey, who worked through both incidents. “In the face of a lot of confusion, everyone stepped up.”
The three fights broke out between 10 and 10:30 p.m. outside an apartment complex on Federal Street and at two locations on State Street, Dittman said. It is unclear whether the fights were related or what caused them. No arrests have been made in connection with the fights, but several are expected in the next few days, he added. None of the victims' names have been released yet.
The two men stabbed in the fights were admitted to L&M Saturday and were in fair condition Sunday. The other seven victims were all treated and released for a variety of injuries including a broken jaw, superficial knife cuts and wounds from blunt-force blows, according to L&M officials.
At L&M, one of the fight victims tried to attack another while he was waiting for treatment, but was stopped by police and security personnel.
“It was a volatile situation, and emotions were running very high,” said Bill Stanley, vice president of development and community relations at L&M.
The waiting room was still crowded with family members and friends of the fight victims when a third unrelated incident occurred there at about 2:20 a.m. Sunday. A city resident not involved in the fights came in for treatment of a medical condition and ended up arrested for breach of peace and interfering with a police officer. Neither police nor hospital officials could provide further details on that incident.
Stanley commended the quick response of city and state police and hospital security guards in calming the tensions and ensuring the safety of staff, patients and those in the waiting room. In some cases, he said, friends and family members of the victims were demanding information about their conditions from hospital staff who could not answer questions immediately because of the patient volume.
“Our first priority is to take care of the patients,” Stanley said.
The volatile situation at the emergency room after the fights, however, reinforces arguments hospital nurses have been making to the administration that better security is needed, said Eric Bailey, spokesman for AFT Connecticut, which represents L&M nurses, technicians and healthcare workers. For several months, he said, the union has been asking for security improvements to ensure the safety of workers. Saturday's incident also comes four months after a man brought a gun to the emergency room. Police and hospital security guards took the gun from him without incident.
“It's not just a question of worker safety,” Bailey said. “It's a question of patient safety and public safety. We hope this will be a wake-up call (to the administration) to sit down with us and figure out what we can do.”
The union is also concerned about assaults on emergency room staff by patients. In May union representatives met with officials at the state's attorneys office to ask that these cases be prosecuted seriously, said Greg Kotecki, chief negotiator for the union.
Among safety measures that could be considered are installation of a metal detector and hiring an off-duty police officer to be stationed in the emergency room on Friday and Saturday nights to supplement hospital security, union officials said. That was the practice several years ago, but was discontinued.
Stanley said the hospital would make more information available about security issues later this week.
During the disturbance, L&M ordered that any new patients be brought to Backus. One person originally headed for L&M was diverted to Backus during that time, said Backus spokesman Shawn Mawhiney.
Stanley said L&M staff should take pride in how they handled the various incidents on Saturday.
“This is why we conduct drills,” he said. “This is what they're trained to do, but you never know if you're really trained until you're put to the test and yesterday we were put to the test not once, but twice.”
Kersey said both the afternoon accident and the fights happened just as shifts of ambulance crews and emergency room personnel were about to change, so the earlier shifts stayed on in both cases so that double the manpower usually on hand could respond. Skills honed in recent disaster drills were effectively put to use, he said. These include prioritizing patients arriving at the same time with a color-coding system and putting police, fire and ambulance crews under a single command directed out of fire headquarters.
“We've had increased emphasis on disaster drills since 9-11,” he said. “Everyone knew what to do.”
Exactly why I brought an extra mag with me on Saturday. Two years ago, a man was beaten in front of his family while onlookers kept walking past.
The pushing, shoving and arguing among emergency room visitors was brought under control by L&M security guards and New London police with the help of a dozen state police troopers. No one was injured and no arrests were made, said New London police Capt. William D. Dittman. The troopers were already in town assisting with fireworks traffic control when they were redirected to L&M.
Although it was quickly brought under control, the potentially dangerous situation in the emergency room underscored concerns that hospital nurses have raised over the last several months about the need to improve hospital security, according to officials for the union that represents them.
The three fights occurred just hours after a car driven by an elderly man struck 28 fairgoers in downtown New London, sending 27 of the victims to L&M and one to The William W. Backus Hospital in Norwich.
Dealing with the second multiple casualty incident in the same day coupled with the unruly crowd that gathered in the waiting room not only was an extreme test of the emergency room staff but demonstrated it could handle the worst, said Ron Kersey, emergency medical services coordinator at L&M.
“I've been with the hospital for 18 years, and we have not faced this magnitude of incidents in one day before,” said Kersey, who worked through both incidents. “In the face of a lot of confusion, everyone stepped up.”
The three fights broke out between 10 and 10:30 p.m. outside an apartment complex on Federal Street and at two locations on State Street, Dittman said. It is unclear whether the fights were related or what caused them. No arrests have been made in connection with the fights, but several are expected in the next few days, he added. None of the victims' names have been released yet.
The two men stabbed in the fights were admitted to L&M Saturday and were in fair condition Sunday. The other seven victims were all treated and released for a variety of injuries including a broken jaw, superficial knife cuts and wounds from blunt-force blows, according to L&M officials.
At L&M, one of the fight victims tried to attack another while he was waiting for treatment, but was stopped by police and security personnel.
“It was a volatile situation, and emotions were running very high,” said Bill Stanley, vice president of development and community relations at L&M.
The waiting room was still crowded with family members and friends of the fight victims when a third unrelated incident occurred there at about 2:20 a.m. Sunday. A city resident not involved in the fights came in for treatment of a medical condition and ended up arrested for breach of peace and interfering with a police officer. Neither police nor hospital officials could provide further details on that incident.
Stanley commended the quick response of city and state police and hospital security guards in calming the tensions and ensuring the safety of staff, patients and those in the waiting room. In some cases, he said, friends and family members of the victims were demanding information about their conditions from hospital staff who could not answer questions immediately because of the patient volume.
“Our first priority is to take care of the patients,” Stanley said.
The volatile situation at the emergency room after the fights, however, reinforces arguments hospital nurses have been making to the administration that better security is needed, said Eric Bailey, spokesman for AFT Connecticut, which represents L&M nurses, technicians and healthcare workers. For several months, he said, the union has been asking for security improvements to ensure the safety of workers. Saturday's incident also comes four months after a man brought a gun to the emergency room. Police and hospital security guards took the gun from him without incident.
“It's not just a question of worker safety,” Bailey said. “It's a question of patient safety and public safety. We hope this will be a wake-up call (to the administration) to sit down with us and figure out what we can do.”
The union is also concerned about assaults on emergency room staff by patients. In May union representatives met with officials at the state's attorneys office to ask that these cases be prosecuted seriously, said Greg Kotecki, chief negotiator for the union.
Among safety measures that could be considered are installation of a metal detector and hiring an off-duty police officer to be stationed in the emergency room on Friday and Saturday nights to supplement hospital security, union officials said. That was the practice several years ago, but was discontinued.
Stanley said the hospital would make more information available about security issues later this week.
During the disturbance, L&M ordered that any new patients be brought to Backus. One person originally headed for L&M was diverted to Backus during that time, said Backus spokesman Shawn Mawhiney.
Stanley said L&M staff should take pride in how they handled the various incidents on Saturday.
“This is why we conduct drills,” he said. “This is what they're trained to do, but you never know if you're really trained until you're put to the test and yesterday we were put to the test not once, but twice.”
Kersey said both the afternoon accident and the fights happened just as shifts of ambulance crews and emergency room personnel were about to change, so the earlier shifts stayed on in both cases so that double the manpower usually on hand could respond. Skills honed in recent disaster drills were effectively put to use, he said. These include prioritizing patients arriving at the same time with a color-coding system and putting police, fire and ambulance crews under a single command directed out of fire headquarters.
“We've had increased emphasis on disaster drills since 9-11,” he said. “Everyone knew what to do.”
Exactly why I brought an extra mag with me on Saturday. Two years ago, a man was beaten in front of his family while onlookers kept walking past.
Not quiet CT! 
