TY - JOUR
T1 - Prevalence and Characteristics of Violence against Paramedics in a Single Canadian Site
AU - Mausz, Justin
AU - Johnston, Mandy
AU - Arseneau-Bruneau, Dominique
AU - Batt, Alan M.
AU - Donnelly, Elizabeth A.
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was principally funded by the Region of Peel, Department of Health Services, Division of Paramedic Services as part of the broader violence prevention program. Additional funding was obtained from the University of Windsor. The Article Processing Charge (APC) was paid by the Region of Peel.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 by the authors.
PY - 2023/9/1
Y1 - 2023/9/1
N2 - Violence against paramedics has been described as a ‘serious public health problem’ but one that remains ‘vastly underreported’, owing to an organizational culture that stigmatizes reporting–hindering efforts at risk mitigation in addition to creating a gap in research. Leveraging a novel reporting process developed after extensive stakeholder consultation and embedded within the electronic patient care record, our objective was to provide a descriptive profile of violence against paramedics in a single paramedic service in Ontario, Canada. Between 1 February 2021 and 31 January 2023, a total of 374 paramedics in Peel Region (48% of the workforce) generated 941 violence reports, of which 40% documented physical (n = 364) or sexual (n = 19) assault. The violence was typically perpetrated by patients (78%) and primarily took place at the scene of the 9-1-1 call (47%); however, violent behavior frequently persisted or recurred while in transit to hospital and after arrival. Collectively, mental health, alcohol, or drug use were listed as contributing circumstances in 83% of the violence reports. In all, 81 paramedics were physically harmed because of an assault. On average, our data correspond to a paramedic filing a violence report every 18 h, being physically assaulted every 46 h, and injured every 9 days.
AB - Violence against paramedics has been described as a ‘serious public health problem’ but one that remains ‘vastly underreported’, owing to an organizational culture that stigmatizes reporting–hindering efforts at risk mitigation in addition to creating a gap in research. Leveraging a novel reporting process developed after extensive stakeholder consultation and embedded within the electronic patient care record, our objective was to provide a descriptive profile of violence against paramedics in a single paramedic service in Ontario, Canada. Between 1 February 2021 and 31 January 2023, a total of 374 paramedics in Peel Region (48% of the workforce) generated 941 violence reports, of which 40% documented physical (n = 364) or sexual (n = 19) assault. The violence was typically perpetrated by patients (78%) and primarily took place at the scene of the 9-1-1 call (47%); however, violent behavior frequently persisted or recurred while in transit to hospital and after arrival. Collectively, mental health, alcohol, or drug use were listed as contributing circumstances in 83% of the violence reports. In all, 81 paramedics were physically harmed because of an assault. On average, our data correspond to a paramedic filing a violence report every 18 h, being physically assaulted every 46 h, and injured every 9 days.
KW - emergency medical services
KW - mental health
KW - occupational health and safety
KW - paramedics
KW - violence
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85170160219&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/ijerph20176644
DO - 10.3390/ijerph20176644
M3 - Article
C2 - 37681784
AN - SCOPUS:85170160219
SN - 1661-7827
VL - 20
JO - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
JF - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
IS - 17
M1 - 6644
ER -