Assaults on the job

A vast majority of us, if not all of us, go into this line of work for people. We do it because we want to help, we want to make their day just that little bit better, using skills which we have studied and worked on and developed over long periods of time. We feel empathy for our patients, we want them to leave interactions with us feeling better than they did before we arrived, both physically and mentally.

Only… our patients do not always return that sentiment. I am quite sure I am not alone when reflecting on being assaulted whilst at work. Sometimes this is understandable, for example due to overwhelming mental health symptoms, driving a patient to act in ways they would never dream of if they had the capacity to understand the situation. But, at times people do genuinely wish to cause us harm for no obvious reason.

I find it interesting to try to understand what could cause someone to assault a member of healthcare staff. We do wear a uniform, perhaps it is to strike out against ‘the system, and effort to rebel against the nationalism we represent. Maybe we remind them of traumatic incidents in their lives, and they are struggling to deal with emotions linked to that. Maybe we did something wrong, maybe to them we no longer appear to be someone there to help, but rather a person trying to persecute them, or force them to do something they are not comfortable with. It could be because they just want to lash out at anyone, and they know they can pick up the phone, call us, and we will always respond to them. I could keep going… There are so many possible ‘justifications for why someone might decide that it is appropriate to attack us.

Each individual will have their own reasons, and each situation will have its own set of circumstances leading up to it. What is perhaps more important is how we can break that chain of events to help keep ourselves, eachother and our patients safe. Local policies are in place of course, in my service we have ‘red flags on houses of patients who have attacked staff previously with approach with caution advice; we are trained to use body language and words to de-escalate situations; we receive basic self defence lessons (... very basic self defence, just how to deflect punches and run in the other direction!), and we have panic buttons on our radios and in the ambulances to summon help when needed. There are also public campaign messages focusing on ‘please do not assault our staff, accompanied with the threat of legal action.

Only… is this enough? Violent attacks on ambulance staff are up by 34% (source). 65% of ambulance staff report being assaulted on the job (and those are just reported assaults) (source). And it isnt always our patients, we have all seen news stories about people reacting to how an ambulance is parked (source). Exposure to violence increases burnout levels amongst staff (source), this matters. It matters for staff welfare, it matters to the patients who we go to next, it matters to our families who we want to come home to. The effects of an assault can be devastating, they can result in PTSD, a fear of returning to the job we love, unfair apprehension towards other patients, lacking confidence, self blame, not to mention the risks of physical injury or even death.

What are your thoughts?

Have you ever been assaulted at work?

Can you think of any other ways we could protect or look after ourselves?

Further Reading/Sources:

Victorian politicians vow to crack down on 'disgusting' attacks after another paramedic assaulted https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-17/vic-paramedic-assaulted-public-outcry-about-assaults/9772478

Assaults on West Midlands Ambulance Service staff increasing https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-birmingham-48746928

(TW video of assault) Paramedics violently assaulted by patient they were trying to treat in ambulance https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/paramedics-violently-assaulted-patient-were-17325868

Over 1,500 assaults on paramedics a year – but new law wont stop the violence https://theconversation.com/over-1-500-assaults-on-paramedics-a-year-but-new-law-wont-stop-the-violence-98734

Attacks on emergency workers in five shameful statistics https://www.theweek.co.uk/96456/attacks-on-emergency-workers-in-five-shameful-statistics

Say Something (We Won't Give Up On You) https://zdoggmd.com/say-something/

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