Assault?

[WannaBEMT]

I have been reading alot lately on different forums and I want to ask a question....Have you ever been assaulted at work? What protection do you have besides your partner, do the police go with you when there is a problem patient and what do you do in a situation like that?

Thanks
Jenn

 

[MMiz]

I have never been assaulted at work or been seriously concerned about a patient hurting me. I've had my fair share of old grannies with alzheimer's being combatant, but I don't consider that assault any more than I consider my dog assaulting me as he tries to get out of taking a bath.

I use common sense to protect myself, but I'm not sure that's enough. If I still worked the road a lot, I would absolutely take a defensive training course suited towards EMS. I know one of our users, DT4EMS has a website where he sells an instructional video, and I've been meaning to buy one for a long time now.

With regular partners I've also had code words that I could yell out and the driver would light it up and slam on the brakes. That may give me an edge if I was fighting in the back. We could always radio for PD, though I think a 5-10 minute response would be normal (We'd radio dispatch, dispatch would have to contact PD, they would be dispatched.. you get the picture).

I think it's absolutely essential, if EMS is your career, to take a defensive tactics course. I simply don't work enough, and 99% of my calls are dialysis / BLS calls.

 

[Wingnut]

We don't really have anything special as far as weapons or training, but I think knowing how to protect yourself is essential no matter what your career choice.

DT4EMS has put up some great posts on the subject I'm sure he'll be along here sometime.

 

[MedicPrincess]

Here is DT's website...

http://www.dt4ems.net/

 

[Jon]

Yeah.... if you work 911 EMS for a while, you will be hit, spit at, kicked, etc.

PD is dispatched on EVERY call with us (and they show up at the nursing home calls). Usually, they beat us in, sometimes they don't show up at all.

anything "violent": shooting, stabbing, assualt, EDP - we stage and wait for PD.

Protection wise:

--Modified Oxygen Theapy (thought they were hypoxic and gave high-flow o2 - forgot to take the o2 out of the bottle.... oops).
--Portable radio..... mine is on a new york strap. I'd use it for defense if needed.

 

[WannaBEMT]

Thanks guys for the info, I appreciate it!

Jenn

 

[TTLWHKR]

I've had a patient bloody by nose, and my lip by hitting me with a stethoscope like a whip.

 

[DT4EMS]

I have been reading alot lately on different forums and I want to ask a question....Have you ever been assaulted at work? What protection do you have besides your partner, do the police go with you when there is a problem patient and what do you do in a situation like that?

Thanks
Jenn

First let me say I am sorry for not seeing this sooner. I was at class for 4 days and I have been down with a stomach virus for the past two days.

The numbers released in August of 2005 (posted in the Boston Herald) are there are over 700,000 anual assaults on EMS providers. There are an average of 69,000 assaults on police.

In the US there is very little attention given to EMS providers attacked in the field. The UK is giving a ton of attention to their problem right now. Missouri changed it's law on "Assault on a Law Enforcement Officer" to include the words "or Emergency Personnel".

I have been in EMS for 16 years. Like everyone else I have had minor things but I did have one big one where my ambulance was carjacked while loaded with a patient.

I am a huge advocate for safety in the field of EMS be it proper lifting, safe driving habits or self-defense.

Preparation is NOT paranoia. Realistically and statistically you may face a violent encounter in the field of EMS. Not being there in the first place is the best defense, but if attacked you need to have a plan.

 

[coloradoemt]

I have been punched at, kicked at, and spit at on many occasions. Nothing major as I have cat like reflexes!!! B) But nothing a pt has ever done to me or attepted to do would I concider an assault.

 

[CaptainPanic]

Ive been hit, kicked, slapped, had a walker thrown at me, peed on and all of that as a STUDENT, so Im only assuming that I will be a uniformed punching back as a bonafide provider.

But thing is so many providers say -"its just part of the job" when, by law you do not have to tolerate getting assualted everytime you clock in. BUT with EMS its a bit trickier - your there to help your patient, but what do you when your patient comes after you? If you hit your patient, he can sue you and the company on grounds of assualt and physical harm and your left well - defenseless in the courtroom. Its hard to get a witness especially when your driver has to concentrate on driving and may not have seen or even heard who instigated the assault. The plaintiff lawyer will say "Hoe can your driver see what was happening if he was driving? Does this mean he does not look at the road while driving? Jury this further proves that these two providers were a rolling, uniformed hazard." - just when the opposite is true!

Id talk to your Director and Supervisors and get a copy of your states defense laws and read them carefully, it may help you find a way to defend yourself physically and legally.

Good luck,
CP

 

[squid]

TTLWHKR saidL: "I've had a patient bloody by nose"

And that's what you sounded like afterward!

 

[Wingnut]

:lol: :lol: :lol: ROFLMAO !

 

[coloradoemt]

TTLWHKR saidL: "I've had a patient bloody by nose"

And that's what you sounded like afterward!

Thats good!!! B)

 

[TTLWHKR]

I don't get it?

 

[Jon]

I don't get it?

You meant to say:

Bloody my nose

What you typed was what you sound like, holding you nose...

"Bloody by node"

 

[TTLWHKR]

You meant to say:

Bloody my nose

What you typed was what you sound like, holding you nose...

"Bloody by node"

It says by nose. not node...

So.. If they wouldn't have changed the time to edit, I could have fixed it.

 

[Jon]

It says by nose. not node...

So.. If they wouldn't have changed the time to edit, I could have fixed it.

Yeah... what is up with that..... we should have more than 5 minutes to edit...

 

[TTLWHKR]

I didn't proof-read before I posted... I was in a hurry, because I'd been drinking a lot of water...and had to........... yanno. .. When I came back, it was too late.

 

[halesyousay]

I have had to threaten to shock someone more than once. When they heard the defib charging and I direct the paddles in their direction, they chilled out. I have thrown pts out of the truck on the roadside before and called for law enforcement as well. You do what you have to do.