An acutal published number

[DT4EMS]

Assaults on EMTs and paramedics - there are 700,000 annually - is a national problem. In a study to be released this fall, the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians found the number of assaults on EMTs to be more commonplace than previously reported.


Here it is!

http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional...210&format=text

 

[DT4EMS]

Just a litte kicker for those who told me there was NO NEED for a course like mine.

Well according to the numbers it looks like 700,000 reasons per year.

 

[rescuecpt]

Eh, I'm sure you know, you'll always find naysayers - until they get assaulted. Then they'll be too embarrassed to speak up.

I got assaulted in my tiny little neighborhood in broad daylight in front of a cop and my entire fire department. Just think of all the dark houses we go into in unfamiliar areas in the middle of the night.

 

[DT4EMS]

It is just amazing how a "few" that don't even work the streets have the guts to say it doesn't happen.

It is that type of mentality that keeps getting our people hurt.

I don't care where a person trains. I just think they should get training that is tailored to the EMS provider.

I keep posting things like this to keep awareness high. Not to "sucker" people into my course. I think it would be great if everyone could take "Mine" but that is impossible.

Instead, I can be simply another resource. Notice I don't make all kinds of fancy posts on ACLS or PHTLS etc........I am not an instructor in those areas. I have years of experience in them, but I don't try to tell people ho to do them.

I would consider myself an expert n the field of EMS Self-Protection skills therefore I CAN offer an opinion on it.

I have removed my posts from some other boards because some people thought it was overkill. Some of those same people have VERY LITTLE if any ROAD experience but because they like to sound big I just removed my posts.

That is why I left the "Elbow Control Article" here but removed it elsewhere. I will continue to post "Articles" here and on my site, but not on those others.

 

[rescuecpt]

Thanks

I moved this thread into our new "Training" forum. Please continue to post, I find this very interesting and there are some great pointers, even for those of us who have been on the "street" for a while and have taken various defense classes.

 

[Wingnut]

I don't know how anyone could think that there isn't any risk. I've had VERY limited field experience, but anyone could be attacked at any time, even walking to the corner store isn't safe. Home isn't safe (I've been attacked twice personally by family members) Now grant it, I live with a cop, my brother is one, and damn near every party/function we go to is usually nothing but cops, so I always hear the stories that don't get published in the paper of how people are attacked and taken advantage of just grocery shopping or getting gas. I'm definitly paranoid to a degree. Anything can happen anywhere and in EMS we are at a much higher risk, because of the situations we go into. I know over half the calls I've gone on were "unknown" and that's not exactly the best way to go into a strangers house. I really hope there aren't people out there in any of the "high- liability" fields who think they are immune to danger just because they're wearing a uniform.

DT, I enjoy reading your articles, I hope you continue to post them.

 

[DT4EMS]

Originally posted by Wingnut@Aug 3 2005, 12:35 PM
I don't know how anyone could think that there isn't any risk. I've had VERY limited field experience, but anyone could be attacked at any time, even walking to the corner store isn't safe. Home isn't safe (I've been attacked twice personally by family members) Now grant it, I live with a cop, my brother is one, and damn near every party/function we go to is usually nothing but cops, so I always hear the stories that don't get published in the paper of how people are attacked and taken advantage of just grocery shopping or getting gas. I'm definitly paranoid to a degree. Anything can happen anywhere and in EMS we are at a much higher risk, because of the situations we go into. I know over half the calls I've gone on were "unknown" and that's not exactly the best way to go into a strangers house. I really hope there aren't people out there in any of the "high- liability" fields who think they are immune to danger just because they're wearing a uniform.

DT, I enjoy reading your articles, I hope you continue to post them.

Thanks so much for your support. I did want to make a comment about "paranoia".

First of all ans "preparation" that a person does for a violent encounter is NOT paranoia. There are hundreds of women throughout the US that take some form of Rape Prevention, Womens self-defense class or whatever to be more prepared. That is by no means paranoia.

As a medic I have had to prove proficinecy yearly in a surgical cric. I am not "paranoid" that I may have to do it, only prepared. I don't walk into every SOB call with a scalpel in hand.

The same is true for preparation for self-protection. I don't go to every call worried that I WILL BE, only that it is a real (according to the new numbers) possibility that it "COULD" occur.

Since there are several stages to any attack, hopefully training will help you recognize the stages and prevent and attack. Just don't rely soley on recognition. You have to have some "Real-World" skills to escape if the need arises.

It is the future of EMS to provide some form of self-defense training. Like it or not, the numbers speak for themselves. So agencies will begin to step up and bring it to you. IF not, they are only opening themselves up for lawsuits because they KNOW the threat exists.

Until then, there is a great book by Krebs "When Violence Errupts." I was given a copy and found it to be the BEST book out there to help with "recognition" and overall scene safety for EMS providers. (and NO I DO NOT SELL IT) I have never even talked to the man.

Trainign resources are limited. If you train in a martial arts school (that's great) refer back to my elbow control articls and look at the "Assault Response Levels" or stop a cop and ask the mabout the "Force Continuum". Then review what you were taught in the martial arts class and see where it goes in relationship to any given attack.

Then practice your documentation as "What THEY did to MAKE YOU do what you did" not the other way around.

You have to protect yourself both in the field and the courtroom. Lawyers are good at what they do. They prepare way in advance to trick you while you are on the stand. It is not wrong, it is their job. So document in a timeline..........

Ah heck, I will just do a documentaition article.