PULSE Magazine | November/December 2018 Issue

By Walt Settlemyre, ATCEMS Clinical Specialist

VIOLENCE IN EMS A New Strategy

What makes our chosen profession inherently dangerous? You could name the big ones that come to mind, driving code 3, exposure risks to disease, blood and respiratory pathogens, as well as the ever presence of PTSD. These all certainly pose great risk and the list is varied and fairly long, however we as First Responders, more so those of us in EMS systems have one job risk that is not only rising in its frequency but is increasing in scale and severity. It's violence. Violence isn't new to our profession by any means. If you've been in this job for any length of time you've likely been both a witness and victim to some level of violence. Statistics show violence toward medical personnel, especially First Responders in EMS are not only rising, but the severity of these attacks is also increasing. Fire

Service is also certainly at risk for violence howev- er a fire crew's numbers, usually four, if the department follows NFPA 1530, can help mitigate physical violence secondary to their numbers how- ever it does happen. Sadly the evidence also shows that violence against medical personnel and again more so with EMS workers, is highly under reported! There isn't a tremendous amount of data actually for this very reason. Health care workers often do not report these incidences unless they receive some kind of severe injury. Most seem to assume that bumps, bruises, and a little pain are part and parcel with the jobs they've chosen. EMS professionals, Nurses, and Doctors,

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