Ever been threatened by a patient?

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Anonymous

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Curious as to how you guys handle threats. I don't mean immediate threats but "watch your back" or "I'm going to find you" type threats. Do you take them seriously? Ignore them? Report them? Document? Etc...
 
We report them to dispatch. Then they put it on record, put a note in our CAD, and dispatch PD to any calls going back to that address.
 
Anonymous said:
Curious as to how you guys handle threats. I don't mean immediate threats but "watch your back" or "I'm going to find you" type threats. Do you take them seriously? Ignore them? Report them? Document? Etc...
Click to expand...

ETOH PT's aren't always happy, and you can't call dispatch in ER.
 
We have had several EMT's who were held up at gun point by angry family members. Me personally, I have never been threatened but I don't take it seriously anyway. When I was a cop I was threatened all the time.
 
Yes.
 
Has anyone ever not?
 
If the patient isn't a psych call then all threats must be reported to law enforcement.
 
Why not report the psychiatric threats?
Yeah, a lot of them are empty and harmless, but it can't hurt to have at least some sort of written documentation, even if it's just an internal paper trail with your agency
 
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How do you differentiate between a serious threat and exercise of free speech while under influence of meds, pain, or fear?

If you work in a correctional setting, where every threat against staff is an infraction, good luck always getting Custody to take threats against staff other than sworn officers seriously. Ours did when we started getting more collegial with them, and the union started making our bosses take us seriously too.
 
I'm in line with everyone else. Yes I have been threatened (1.5 years of psych transports).

If I felt they could be a serious problem then I would report them, I never reported any because I felt they were not serious.
 
adamjh3 said:
Why not report the psychiatric threats?
Yeah, a lot of them are empty and harmless, but it can't hurt to have at least some sort of written documentation, even if it's just an internal paper trail with your agency
Click to expand...

Because prosecution of a person who is mentally incompetent never ends well. It's best to bring them to the psych hospital and report it to the clinicians there, so they can have their meds adjusted, therapy changed, etc.
 
I get threats every day I go to work. Usually it's a "I'm going to sue you and have your F*&kin' job!" or "I'll kick your f$%kin' a$$!" These threats are documented and while I'm always aware I'm typically not too concerned. Most of our pt's (we call them clients) are locked in general population rooms or locked in a small room by themselves. Once they sober up they're much more mellow and they relealize they are outnumbered and not wearing any shoes.
 
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