A broken nose, eye socket, and a hearty insurance claim to boot...

Of all the places for a security officer to get assaulted, you wouldn't think a horse racing track would be one of them.

But that kind of thinking (assuming violence can't happen "here") inevitably leads to someone getting hurt, right?

Just look at this recent case in New York where an unarmed officer was assaulted and severely injured by an aggressor for no apparent reason. The suspect even stole the security officer's car following the assault.

This post appeared originally on LinkedIn.

Violent attacks on hospital staff are not limited to the United States. Recently, Canada has experienced high profile assaults that have left defenseless workers injured.

The Vancouver Sun reports a nurse at Abbotsford Regional Hospital in British Columbia was the victim of a "vicious attack" by a patient in the emergency room. The B.C. Nurses' Union is calling for better training for hospital staff and more security guards in emergency rooms. "The health employers have a responsibility to ensure the safety and well-being of their employees," said union Vice President Christine Sorensen.

Rapid advancements in security systems integration, security technologies and officers’ response tools have enabled hospitals to develop security and risk mitigation apparatus that are far more proactive, more preventative and more strategic than ever before. A case in point: the application, integration and flow of data intelligence enables hospital security to make decisions at a very rapid pace and on a global basis. On the ground, security officers who are well-informed by timely and critical information and intelligence and carry enhanced non-lethal response tools can be far more effective at deescalating or subduing violent confrontations compared to underequipped peers.

It hit me recently while I watched one of our intense instructor certification courses. The moment in front of me had been five years in the making.

Last month, a lone gunman shot and killed Dr. Michael Davidson at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. By all accounts, Davidson was an outstanding doctor, husband and father of three with a fourth child on the way. No one saw it coming.