Secure area with one exit left hospital staff trapped by armed patient
Eight staff members were trapped for three hours in a secure station at Canberra Hospital's Behavioural Assessment Unit after an armed patient produced a knife, despite prior concerns about the area having only one exit. The patient, delivered by police under a psychiatric order, was disarmed using a flashbang grenade by an AFP tactical team, with no injuries reported. Hospital officials confirmed the secure area functioned as intended but acknowledged the need for a second exit to prevent entrapment. Design plans for a second exit were already under review before the incident.
- ▪An armed patient forced eight staff to shelter in a secure station with only one exit during a Wednesday afternoon incident at Canberra Hospital's Behavioural Assessment Unit.
- ▪The 35-year-old patient, delivered by police and searched beforehand, produced a knife inside the unit, prompting an AFP tactical response involving a flashbang grenade.
- ▪No injuries occurred, but staff were confined in the secure area for three hours until the situation was resolved.
- ▪Canberra Health Services confirmed staff had previously raised concerns about the single entry-exit point in the secure staff station.
- ▪Architects were already assessing options for a second exit weeks before the incident, with designs still under review.
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Canberra Hospital staff raised concerns over secure area before knife incident last weekBy Penny Travers and Monte Bovill666 ABC CanberraTopic:Healthcare Facilities2h ago2 hours agoTue 28 Apr 2026 at 1:09amThe Behavioural Assessment Unit where the patient was taken is part of Canberra Hospital's new emergency department. (ABC News: Tobias Hunt)abc.net.au/news/canberra-hospital-secure-staff-station-exit-concerns/106614534Link copiedShareShare articleStaff at Canberra Hospital raised concerns that a "secure staff station" had only one entry-exit point, before an incident last week during which a patient produced a knife.The incident at the hospital's Behavioural Assessment Unit occurred on Wednesday afternoon, after police dropped off a 35-year-old man who they say was in breach of a psychiatric treatment order.Police say the man was searched before being taken to the hospital.But inside the unit, police say he produced a knife, forcing eight staff to shelter in the secure staff station until Australian Federal Police negotiators and tactical response team members were able to disarm the man.Police say they used a "flashbang grenade" — also known as a stun grenade designed to temporarily distract a person — before physically restraining the man.No-one was injured, but Canberra Health Services deputy chief executive officer Liz Lopa said the staff were stuck inside the room for three hours during the police negotiations."When this person produced the knife, a couple of [the staff members] got out of the unit, but about eight of them went into the secure staff station and locked themselves in," she said."This is like the nurse's desk, which in the Behavioural Assessment Unit is perspexed in, where the nurses usually sit and the staff usually sit."That is a secure area, they were able to lock the door, the person did not have access to them while they were in there."So, they were in a safe situation, but they were stuck in there until such time as the police could deal with the situation."The ward was empty of all other patients at the time, Ms Lopa said, and she noted that the Behavioural Assessment Unit was situated alongside but "a little bit secure and separate" from the main emergency department.Ms Lopa said the secure staff station had only one entrance and exit, something staff had previously raised concerns about."If there was a second entrance, the staff would have been able to get out back into the normal emergency department," she said."The security of the staff station did do its job, those staff were secure."It would have been better if they were able to exit that staff station and not be stuck there for that amount of time."Police did not have ability to 'strip-search' patientIn a statement, ACT Policing said police were looking into how the man came into possession of the knife."Police are able to conduct a basic search of anyone who is in their custody — including people who are detained under mental health provisions," an ACT Policing spokesperson said."Police do not have the ability to 'strip-search' a person in situations such as these."Staff station design was already being reviewedThe new emergency department, which opened in 2024, was designed according to the Australasian Health Facility guidelines, Ms Lopa said."They are sort of agnostic, or were when we designed it, about how many exits," she said."However, the staff had raised that there was only one entrance and exit and that they would like a second exit."And…
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