Hosp Secur Saf Manage. 1997 Jul;18(3):5-7.
Seattle, WA, hospitals are among the many seeking to attract foreign patients. Seattle is conveniently located, relatively speaking to dozens of Pacific Rim countries with residents who have economic means to seek out first-class health care when they need it. Patients at Seattle hospitals now include Russians in large numbers, as well as significant numbers from Korea, Hong Kong, Japan, the Philippines, Vietnam. Cambodia, Saudi Arabia, and neighboring North African nations. Treating foreign VIPs, however, can bring new challenges to hospital security departments. Many patients, along with their families and entourages, frequently have cultural expectations that differ from those held by many Americans. In one "worstcase" scenario, a hospital official cites behavior of some people who come from places "where it is all right to goose a woman or to pursue her openly." That kind of situation can escalate quickly, the official says. However, "we've had very good success sitting someone down and explaining in a good way that it is not OK to do that here and you can't do it again. Usually we have really good results, but if you go in like gangbusters, it could be a disaster." In this report, we'll describe some other security problems that can come with foreign patients and give details on how Seattle hospitals are meeting them.
华盛顿州西雅图市的医院是众多寻求吸引外国患者的医院之一。相对而言，西雅图地理位置便利，与数十个环太平洋国家相邻，这些国家的居民有经济能力在需要时寻求一流的医疗保健服务。西雅图医院现在的患者包括大量俄罗斯人，以及来自韩国、中国香港、日本、菲律宾、越南、柬埔寨、沙特阿拉伯和邻近北非国家的众多患者。然而，治疗外国贵宾会给医院安全部门带来新的挑战。许多患者及其家属和随行人员的文化期望往往与许多美国人不同。在一个“最坏情况”的场景中，一位医院官员提到了一些来自“对抚摸女性或公开追求女性习以为常的地方”的人的行为。这位官员说，那种情况可能会迅速升级。然而，“我们通过让某人坐下来，以一种恰当的方式解释在这里那样做是不行的，而且不能再那样做，取得了很好的效果。通常我们真的会取得很好的结果，但如果你像暴徒一样冲进去，可能会酿成大祸。”在本报告中，我们将描述外国患者可能带来的其他安全问题，并详细介绍西雅图医院是如何应对这些问题的。
