EASLEY — The emergency room of Baptist Easley Hospital was evacuated on Sunday after a patient damaged the overhead sprinkler system and flooded the E.R.
According to hospital officials, around 6 p.m. a patient who was undergoing an evaluation entered a bathroom, removed a ceiling tile and broke a sprinkler head by ripping it down. He then attacked a hospital security guard to was attempting to restrain him.
Easley police identified the patient as 52-year-old Randall Jeffery Pierce and said he was struggling with several members of the hospital’s security team when the police arrived.
Due to medical privacy laws, it has not been released what Pierce was being evaluated for nor whether it played any part in his actions.
“Damage to a single sprinkler head at Prisma Health Baptist Easley Hospital’s emergency department caused water to pool on the floor in a small section of that area and the fire alarm to activate,” said a spokesperson for Prisma Health. “As a precaution, the emergency department was temporarily evacuated. The water was cleaned up, the Easley Fire Department gave the all clear, and the emergency department resumed normal operations. “
Pierce was detained and has been charged with malicious damage greater than $10,000 and third-degree assault.
Police and hospital officials said all patients who were evacuated from the hospital were in stable condition. The hospital was back to “business as usual” later that night.
