Ambos gun for armed safety
DESPERATE paramedics, terrified of being assaulted by patients, say access to weapons could help them protect themselves.
CQUniversity Australian academics said while it’s unlikely Australian paramedics will be armed with weapons on the job, the profession does have a higher injury and fatality rate than any other occupational group.
A study led by CQUniversity researcher Professor Brian Maguire showed a number of Emergency Medical Service ( EMS) personnel believed the use of restraints and weapons may help to prevent paramedic assaults.
The first- of- its- kind study surveyed paramedics from 13 countries, more than 35 per cent of which had reported being assaulted on the job in the past 12 months.
Professor Maguire, a New York City paramedic for two decades, said the alarming percentage of reported assaults was unsurprising.
“The risk of assault has been increasing dramatically,” he said.
“We now know that violence is one of the most dangerous components of a paramedic’s job and the results indicate that this is a growing problem.”
Professor Maguire’s recently released article, Preventing Emergency Medical Services workplace violence, showed some EMS personnel saw a role for weapons for self- defence.
“Carrying firearms and other self- protection weapons introduces a host of issues in regards to liability,” he said.
“Less contentious options included de- escalation training, self- defence training, better pat- downs by police prior to transport, and increased penalties for perpetrators of assaults.”
CQU Paramedics lecturer Joelene Gott said there was no discussion in Australia indicating arming paramedics was being considered.
“When we talk about assaults against paramedics it’s more verbal and physical assaults. We don’t have the guns like they do in the States,” she said.
Ms Gott said CQU paramedics students receive train- ing in how to de- escalate potentially dangerous situations as well as a crash- course in self- defence.
“They get taught that during their residential school, as well as learning how to de- escalate when it comes to mental health as a whole including drugs, alcohol, the elderly, it all encompasses into one,” she said.
“We go to volatile situations, whether that be someone who is on drugs or drunk, or whether it be to a family member who has just had their loved one die in front of them — they’re not themselves, that’s the worst time in their life and that can still be classed as assault when they look to us because we weren’t able to fix it.”
Ms Gott said more research would benefit the industry.