Prevalence and Characteristics of Violence against Paramedics in a Single Canadian Site
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Overview and Setting
2.2. Data Collection
2.3. Analysis
3. Results
3.1. Prevalence of Violence
3.2. Type Violence Reported
3.3. Perpetrators and Locations of Violent Encounters
3.4. Contributing Circumstances
3.5. Impact on Paramedics
4. Discussion
Limitations
5. Conclusions
Supplementary Materials
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Type of Violence | Definition |
---|---|
Verbal Abuse | Offensive or hateful language, yelling, or screaming with the intent of offending or frightening the paramedic. |
Intimidation | Purposely threatening, following, or using gestures to offend or threaten the paramedic. |
Sexual Harassment | Sexual propositioning or unwelcome sexual attention from a perpetrator. Humiliation or offensive jokes or remarks with sexual overtones, suggestive looks, or physical gestures. |
Assault | Physical attack or attempt to attack, for example through punching, kicking, or using a weapon with the intent of causing bodily harm. |
Sexual Assault | Indecent assault, for example, brushing, touching, or groping the genitals or breast area. |
Parameter | Missing | Count | % |
---|---|---|---|
Type of Violence Reported | 0 | ||
Verbal Abuse | 368 | 39.1% | |
Assault | 170 | 18.1% | |
Intimidation | 39 | 4.2% | |
Sexual Harassment | 20 | 2.1% | |
Sexual Assault | 10 | 1.1% | |
More Than One Type | 334 | 35.5% | |
Assault/No Assault | 0 | ||
Any Physical Assault | 364 | 38.7% | |
Any Sexual Assault | 19 | 2% | |
Any Physical or Sexual Assault | 379 | 40.3% | |
Source of Violence | 0 | ||
Patient | 736 | 78.2% | |
Family Member (of patient) | 103 | 10.9% | |
Other Person | 31 | 3.3% | |
Bystander | 25 | 2.7% | |
More Than One Source | 46 | 4.9% | |
Location of Violent Incident | 2 | ||
At Scene | 447 | 47.5% | |
In Transit | 79 | 8.4% | |
At Hospital | 107 | 11.4% | |
More Than One Location | 306 | 21.7% | |
Any Violence at Hospital | 347 | 36.9% | |
Contributing Circumstances | 0 | ||
Alcohol | 226 | 24% | |
Mental Health | 152 | 16.2% | |
Cognitive Impairment | 71 | 7.5% | |
Drugs | 51 | 5.4% | |
None of the Above | 237 | 25.2% | |
More Than One Contributor | 204 | 21.7% | |
Any Alcohol or Drugs | 461 | 49% | |
Any Mental Health | 317 | 33.7% | |
Any Mental Health or Substance Use | 778 | 82.7% | |
Outcomes | 0 | ||
Physically Harmed | 81 | 8.6 | |
Emotionally Impacted | 211 | 22.4 |
Parameter | N | Mean | SD | Median | IQR | Skewness | Kurtosis | F | p |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Any Violence | 653 | 44.31 | 31.87 | 32.46 | 31.54 | 1.77 | 3.09 | 53.41 | <0.001 |
No Violence | 152,006 | 36.74 | 23.36 | 29.00 | 23.08 | 2.29 | 6.43 | ||
Any Assault | 293 | 45.30 | 32.10 | 34.00 | 30.99 | 1.76 | 3.06 | 30.66 | <0.001 |
No Assault | 152,366 | 36.76 | 26.76 | 29.00 | 23.13 | 2.29 | 6.42 |
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Mausz, J.; Johnston, M.; Arseneau-Bruneau, D.; Batt, A.M.; Donnelly, E.A. Prevalence and Characteristics of Violence against Paramedics in a Single Canadian Site. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20, 6644. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20176644
Mausz J, Johnston M, Arseneau-Bruneau D, Batt AM, Donnelly EA. Prevalence and Characteristics of Violence against Paramedics in a Single Canadian Site. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2023; 20(17):6644. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20176644
Chicago/Turabian StyleMausz, Justin, Mandy Johnston, Dominique Arseneau-Bruneau, Alan M. Batt, and Elizabeth A. Donnelly. 2023. "Prevalence and Characteristics of Violence against Paramedics in a Single Canadian Site" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 20, no. 17: 6644. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20176644