Published: October 11, 2007 12:55 am            

Officials to discuss how a practice run at St. Mary’s resulted in a diverted patient, a real police emergency

An emergency call reporting an abducted newborn at a local hospital resulted in a patient being turned away and police officers rushing to the scene, only to discover it was a drill.

Enid Police Department and St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center officials will meet today to determine how to keep a miscommunication like the one that occurred Tuesday evening from happening again.

Capt. Dean Grassino said Enid Police Department was called at 7:33 p.m. Tuesday and told there was an infant taken from the obstetrics area. Police diverted all available resources to St. Mary’s, he said.



“All non-emergency calls were placed on hold, and officers set up a perimeter. When officers got to OB to investigate, they just laughed and told us it was a drill,” Grassino said.

In a recording provided to the News & Eagle by the police department, an operator at St. Mary’s tells police there is a “Code Zebra on 4 South” at the hospital. The dispatcher asks the definition of “Code Zebra” and is told it means an infant abduction from the obstetrics ward.

There was no mention during the phone call to police about the incident being a drill.



St. Mary’s Administrator Rick Wallace said drills are controlled by the director of patient safety and compliance. Tuesday’s drill started with a written note saying a baby had been taken. That note, he said, did not designate the abduction scenario was a drill. Fourth-floor personnel notified the switchboard, and the operator called police, thinking the emergency was real.

“We set the procedure in motion, but we forgot to say the magic words, ‘This is a drill,’” Wallace said.

First-floor personnel at St. Mary’s believed the emergency was real and diverted an injured person transported by private vehicle to Integris Bass Baptist Health Center, Wallace said.

Integris personnel stabilized the injured person, who eventually was taken back to St. Mary’s.

“This is one of those things that happens when you practice as many drills as we do,” Wallace said. “We want to make sure communication is where it needs to be. We want to be sure our drills provide the safest possible environment for patients. Infant abduction is a top priority for us. We’ve never had one abducted, and because of our tests I don’t think we ever will.”

He apologized for the inconvenience to the patient and to police. Looking at the situation optimistically, Wallace said it did show how quickly Enid police can respond.

“We now know our system works extremely well. We appreciate the police response, even if it did create problems elsewhere,” he said.

Grassino said police do not divert traffic entering the hospital.

He said someone from St. Mary’s called the department a second time seeking the telephone number for Federal Bureau of Investigation.

St. Mary’s spokeswoman Cyndy Shepherd said it is protocol to notify FBI, but she said the drill was terminated before the hospital called FBI. An FBI spokesman would not discuss whether a telephone call was received Tuesday from St. Mary’s.

Today’s meeting was set to discuss the incident and how to properly communicate about drills.

“We talked to (EPD Chief Rick West) this morning,” Shepherd said Wednesday. “Institutions are going to be doing more and more of these drills, and we will engage with the police Thursday and have a dialogue about how we can do it without having mistakes.”

“It’s troubling from our standpoint because emergency services were diverted for a drill. If they notify us ahead of time, we have no problem working with them,” Grassino said.

Reporting the drill as a real incident technically constitutes a crime for filing a false police report, Grassino said.

St. Mary’s conducts various emergency drills periodically so personnel can be prepared for any emergency, Shepherd said.

Shepherd said drills usually last between 35 and 45 minutes.

“We got a healthy response from the police, and they were here in minutes. We know they will respond quickly,” Shepherd said.

Shepherd said the hospital will do anything it can to provide a safe environment.