NFPA Journal - July/August 2018 - 22
First Responder by John Montes
DISPATCHES
FROM THE
EMERGENCY
RESPONDER
COMMUNITY
The 400 Blows
WORK-RELATED VIOLENCE IS A MAJOR PROBLEM FACING AN ARRAY
OF FIRST RESPONDERS. WHY IS SO MUCH OF IT GOING UNREPORTED?
s an 18-year emergency
meaning that even department leaders
medical services veteran,
may be unaware of the magnitude of the
I can tell you that work-reproblem. One can only wonder how much
lated violence directed at
this issue wears on responders' mental
EMS workers is a vastly
health and to what extent.
underreported problem.
Although the aforementioned study
A recent study provides a bit of
only focuses on EMS workers employed
insight. "Expecting the Unexpected:
by large urban fire departments, I think
A Mixed Methods Study of Violence
it provides a starting point for a broader
to EMS Responders in an Urban Fire
discussion about violence against all
Department," published in the American
responders. Researchers analyzed data
Journal of Industrial Medicine, includes
from the Firefighter Injury Research and
some eye-opening factoids from several
Safety Trends project, and interviewed
During my career,
previous studies. In 2012, for exammultiple paramedics and EMS to gain a
I was assaulted
ple, an estimated 2,400 EMS workers
deeper understanding of the problem.
several hundred times
were sent to the hospital with injuries
Among the noteworthy observations
but only reported
received from work-related violence.
from the study are: EMS responders are
Unfortunately, this trend continues to
more likely to be assaulted by patients
about 15 incidents-
be the most common cause of injury for
than their firefighter colleagues, and
mostly because I
EMS workers nationwide.
gender does not determine who gets
suffered some form
While these statistics may be revelaassaulted; there is a general lack of knowlof injury.
tory to some, I can't help but think that
edge about how to prevent violent attacks;
they only tell half the story of what emersignage in the back of ambulances stating
gency responders face in the field.
"It is a felony to assault a first responder"
In my experience, first responders
might deter patients from assaulting EMS
seldom report the violence they encounworkers; and computer-aided dispatch
ter on the job. During my career, I was assaulted several (CAD) systems should utilize a flag system so that dispatchers
hundred times but only reported about 15 incidents-mostly can alert all responders about prior patient-initiated violence at
because I suffered some form of injury-and only went to court the location, a feature already used by at least two departments.
six times when charges were pressed.
Other observations were that departments can reduce
There were many factors that contributed to my reluctance responder stress levels by adding personnel so that workers
to report violent incidents: I felt sympathetic toward the sick have opportunities for breaks during their shifts to encourage
and impaired and didn't want to get them in trouble; I was occupational recovery; and department management should
assaulted by patients suspected of being under the influence support personnel during legal proceedings after assaults occur.
of an illegal substance, and law enforcement was hesitant to
I would add to this that supervisors should encourage respondcharge them for an assault because they wanted them to be ers to report violent incidents, or at least to enter the incident
medically cleared; I was not injured, at least not visibly; I felt into a self-reporting computer tool so that more robust data can
peer pressure to act tough and as though the assault didn't be collected. The strength of the available data clearly shows a
affect me; and I simply accepted it as "part of the job."
need for further exploration into this subject, and more data
Though it hasn't been formally studied, many believe that will help draw more attention to this underreported problem.
this lack of reporting violence against responders is widespread.
Many responders don't even report assaults to their supervisors, John Montes is specialist, Emergency Services Public Fire Protection, at NFPA.
22 | NFPA JOURNAL * J U L Y /A U G U S T 2 0 1 8
MICHAEL HOEWELER
A
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - July/August 2018
Contents
NFPA Journal - July/August 2018 - Cover1
NFPA Journal - July/August 2018 - Cover2
NFPA Journal - July/August 2018 - 1
NFPA Journal - July/August 2018 - Contents
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