Security officer uses gift to cut tension

When situations heat up, Fulton Rushing Jr. is able to cool them down.

Patients who might be anxious, scared or even aggressive become calmer when speaking with him. Visitors who are tense or angry often walk away smiling after meeting with him, or at least they’re satisfied by the interaction.

Rushing specializes in diffusing tense situations – so much so that he’s the “go-to” security officer at UCHealth Memorial Hospital Central and other UCHealth facilities in the region.

“I strive to give patients and visitors the best customer service possible in what is often a stressful situation,” he said. “I see different emotions all the time, and it is usually because of what’s going on in their lives or the lives of their loved ones.”

Don Kane, security manager for UCHealth’s southern region, said Rushing has “a gift” when it comes to de-escalation, and Rushing also teaches his techniques at trainings for new security personnel.

“He can migrate his demeanor based on the environment or patient themselves,” Kane said. “If it’s a younger person, he can speak the lingo. He can tailor his speech and verbal cues to that individual. He does it so well, they don’t see him as an authority figure.”

Rushing honed his techniques after four years in the Army, and then 20 years working with at-risk youth at Spring Creek Youth Services Center, a detention facility, in Colorado Springs. He came to UCHealth in 2017.

During COVID-19, Rushing’s skills have especially been put to the test.

“People are stressed out, scared and anxious that maybe they’re sick with the virus,” Rushing said. “It’s a stressful situation for everyone, and it’s a serious situation. I understand that, and I believe in uplifting people.”

When a visitor didn’t want to put on a mask inside the hospital – and his temper was getting worse by the minute – Rushing was in the lobby to talk with the man, who ended up heading to see his loved one with a mask on. Onlookers in the lobby complimented Rushing afterward, and the visitor even sought him out later the day. “He told me he appreciated how I dealt with the situation, and he told me, ‘I wish I had more people in my life like you, due to the fact that there’s a lot going on in the world right now and a lot of anger.’”

Said Kane: “We never try to tell someone to do something, like tell them to ‘calm down.’ That is rarely effective. Rushing is great in giving someone options – ‘When you put on your mask, I can get you up to the unit to see your loved one much faster’ – it’s ‘if you can do this for me, I can do this for you.’  He does that very well.”

During the height of the pandemic, when lines of cars waited in a winding queue for drive-thru testing, Rushing encountered countless people who were scared and tense about getting the test. One driver in line, for instance, also was upset by having to use an app to schedule a test appointment. Rushing walked him through it and answered his questions.  The man’s response: “OK, since you explained it like that, I will stay in line.”

“The man got his test, came out of the drive-thru, beeped at me and gave a thumbs up as he drove away,” Rushing recalled.

He also regularly provided entertainment for those waiting in their vehicle, offering them a friendly greeting and a wave and sometimes doing a little dance. He caught the eye of a reporter, who reached out to the UCHealth communications team about her observations:

“I just left a message on your cell, but wanted to reach out with a story idea,” the reporter wrote in an email. “I went over to the Parkside COVID tent on Friday at 11 a.m., and the security guard working at that time was SO AWESOME. He was directing cars — giving everyone thumbs up (every car, it was so sweet) and telling everyone, ‘hope you’re OK; it’s gonna be OK!’

“Tell him he made my day!”

Rushing is well-known at Memorial and regularly lauded by hospital employees for his ability to light up a room.

In one instance, his presence was requested by medical staff to assist with a patient’s placement in a long-term care facility. He accompanied the patient to his new temporary home, assuring the patient that he would be fine. The move was successful and was completed without complications.

Said Kane: “Health care security is very different from other types of security work. It’s a customer-service based security environment, with varying customers: patients, staff and visitors. The work can be very challenging, and de-escalation and communications skills are so important because we know that oftentimes the job includes interacting with people who are very upset and are having a very bad day – either from being in the hospital themselves or being worried about a loved one.”