A survey of paramedics and alcohol related work: ascertaining fear of and level of assault in the North East Ambulance Service

Newbury‐Birch, Dorothy; Martin, Neil; Giles, Emma; Moat, Christopher; Shevills, Colin

doi:10.29045/14784726.2017.1.4.13

Cited by 6 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Our survey indicates that the public are not aware of the scale of assaults against EMS staff; for instance, only 33.2% of participants thought there were more than 500 incidents were reported to the police each year in Wales. UK/Wales based data is lacking, but across all measures, the public underestimated the scale of V&A directed towards EMS reported in the international literature, where between 67%-99% of staff report experiencing verbal abuse, 41%-80% report intimidation, 26%-69% report physical assaults,10%-17% report threats with weapons,14%-61.5% report sexual harassment and 3%-13.8% sexual assault (Bigham et al 2014, Boyle et al 2007, Savoy et al Mausz et al 2021, Newbury-Birch et al 2017, Mausz & Johnston, 2019, Suserud et al, 2002, Maguire et al, 2018.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Protecting Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Staff from Aggression and Violence in Conflict Encounters (PEACE1): A survey of Wales Adults attitudes in 2022

Rees,

Todd,

Fiorentino

et al. 2023

Preprint

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BackgroundEmergency Medical Services (EMS) staff frequently encounter violence and aggression (V&A) directed towards them, which negatively affects their wellbeing and provision of services. This is an international problem and employers and others are tackling it through policy, education, legislation, and public information campaigns. The aim of this study was to explore the Welsh public’s views of V&A directed at EMS staff and their awareness of policy changes and the reach of media campaigns associated with recent policy changes.MethodsIn August 2022, we conducted a survey including a YouGov non probabilistic purposive sample of 1,010 Wales adults (aged 18+) from a matched panel representative of the population derived from a UK YouGov panel of >360,000 adults registered.ResultsOur sample included 52.4% women, median age and IQR was 52 and 52.5% were in social grade ABC1. 60.2% lived in areas with the most urban conurbations and 39.8% in the most rural conurbations. Most (62.5%) participants had heard of an instance of V&A directed towards EMS staff, but 24.4% had never heard, and 72.1% had never witnessed V&A. 15.5% had witnessed V&A directed towards EMS staff less than 10 times and these were more likely to be younger. 17.7% heard via work, and younger participants were more likely hear via social settings. 81.1% heard through media, and older participants were more likely to have heard through the media. 90.4% disagreed that V&A towards EMS staff can be acceptable in some cases and 53.3% were not aware of any related publicity and/or media campaigns. 92.4% thought intoxication with alcohol would likely contribute to V&A towards EMS staff, 90.5% thought intoxication with drugs and 84.3% thought an altered mental status following illness and/or injury would also likely contribute. 22% were aware of the Assaults on Emergency Workers Act, and 75.2% thought those intoxicated with drugs or alcohol would unlikely be deterred from V&A towards EMS staff by this act. 75.6% thought those with altered mental status following illness and/or injury would unlikely be deterred, and 42.2% thought it unlikely other members of the public would be deterred; 42.9% thought it was likely. Younger participants and those with a social grade of C2/D/E were more likely to think those intoxicated with drugs and alcohol, altered mental status following illness and/or injury and other members of the public would be deterred.ConclusionUnderstanding public attitudes towards V&A directed to EMS staff is important for their wellbeing and maintaining services. There appears to be good awareness of this issue in the Wales public, who also find V&A directed towards EMS staff unacceptable but underestimate the scale of the problem. Whilst the media appears to be the best form of communication, we did not find evidence of impact of current efforts to tackle this issues, as participants were largely unaware of legislation and information campaigns aimed at V&A directed towards EMS staff. Participants overwhelmingly felt current legislation would not deter V&A towards EMS staff, but younger people were more likely to think it would. We therefore recommend massages may be amplified, and targeted towards young people, men, those in social grade of C2/D/E and through social settings where V&A may be encountered more often and who were more likely to feel current legislation would deter. It is unclear if current efforts of policy, legislation and communication campaigns have any impact on talking V&A directed towards EMS staff, and we therefore recommend further research to understand and develop evidence-based interventions, along with tackling the influence of those factors involved, such as intoxication with drugs, alcohol, and altered mental status following illness and/or injury, by improving education, support, and care provision for these groups of people.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Protecting Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Staff from Aggression and Violence in Conflict Encounters (PEACE1): A survey of Wales Adults attitudes in 2022

Rees,

Todd,

Fiorentino

et al. 2023

Preprint

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“…The interesting, sometimes technically demanding and at times risky environment and the nature of the clinical role can also be part of its attraction. Paramedics in the UK and abroad recognise the dangers and know that physical and psychological injury, as well as a much higher mortality rate than virtually any other workforce, is high (Maguire et al , 2002 and Newbury et al , 2017). Many risk factors, such as regular exposure to bodily fluids, infectious disease and, less frequently, trauma (Corman, 2017) as well as, to a limited extent, the ergonomic demands of moving often heavy patients in less than ideal environments are inevitable.…”

Section: More Of the Same Is Not The Answer When Cultural Issues Rema...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Lord Carter's report into NHS ambulance service efficiency; will its findings make a difference and stimulate the service to escape “the mediocrity trap?”

Newton¹

2020

IJES

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PurposeReview of major policy paper in relation to the ambulance service [in England] efficiency and productivity with reference to observed “unacceptable variation”.Design/methodology/approachCritical review of ambulance service/EMS policy approach in England.FindingsLord Carter’s review describes failings in performance of UK ambulance service/EMS. However, the identified failings are essentially a repetition of many almost identical similar findings. There is a tendency of policy in respect of the ambulance service in England, as exemplified by Lord Carter’s report to consider analysis of the problem a more significant task that actually addressing the shortcoming defined.Research limitations/implicationsThis viewpoint comment piece is produced as a viewpoint with all the attendant limitations implied in this approach. However, it has been produced from an informed position.Practical implicationsChallenge to current UK ambulance policy. Previous repetitious finding need to be addressed definitively.Social implicationsThe efficiency of UK ambulance services/EMS is seriously impaired, and indeed these findings have been acknowledge previously. However, little by way of active remediation has been attempted. The current approach as exemplified in Lord Carter's recent review appears to ensure that analysis of the long- standing problems that exist is sufficient and possible preferable to active remediation and improvement.Originality/valueNo previous critical review of this type has been attempted (as it would be career-limiting).

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Self-reported incidence of verbal and physical violence against emergency medical services (EMS) personnel in Singapore

Tay

Razak

Foong

et al. 2021

Australasian Emergency Care

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A survey of paramedics and alcohol related work: ascertaining fear of and level of assault in the North East Ambulance Service

Abstract: Principal conclusions NEAS employees experience high levels of assault and fear of assault and current training needs to be revisited, especially around prevention and management of sexual assaults/harassment.

Cited by 6 publications

References 9 publications

Protecting Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Staff from Aggression and Violence in Conflict Encounters (PEACE1): A survey of Wales Adults attitudes in 2022

Protecting Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Staff from Aggression and Violence in Conflict Encounters (PEACE1): A survey of Wales Adults attitudes in 2022

Lord Carter's report into NHS ambulance service efficiency; will its findings make a difference and stimulate the service to escape “the mediocrity trap?”

Self-reported incidence of verbal and physical violence against emergency medical services (EMS) personnel in Singapore

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