Latvian paramedics consider self-defense features / Article

The changes are necessary because medics regularly have to deal with patient aggression – emotional or physical attacks.

As in other operational services, the work of the Emergency Medical Service (NMPD) is fraught with risk, and medics never know who they will meet at the scene of a call and how it will turn out.

Aggression has ranged from punching and fist-pumping to capturing the team, and threats have been made with knives and guns, including pointing them at team personnel or putting a gun to their kneecaps.

According to the NMPD, in 2022 there were 10 cases of serious injuries sustained in attacks, after which medics were forced to take sick leave. In 2023 there were 20 such cases.

In total, at least three cases of aggressive patients are recorded on the call card every day. However, this is only the tip of the iceberg, as each staff member can tell at least three stories of being threatened with knives and guns.

Māra Dīriņa, Deputy Director of the NMPD, believes that a warning about the use of pepper spray or a body camera could deter the aggressive person from further attempts to escalate the situation.

“After conducting another employee survey, where employees indicated safety aspects as the main risk of their working environment, we decided to investigate the situation more seriously, to consult other services, and to decide on the purchase of these tools for the service. The working environment and conditions we have are such, especially in the pre-hospital phase. Our team medics never know what kind of call they will be on,” Dīriņa said.

Currently, the SOS button is available for the brigade staff – the message is immediately received by the emergency telephone dispatchers, who decide whether to send additional help and involve the police, and psychological support is also available.

A pilot project has also been carried out to train staff on self-defense, where skills are acquired in the psychological management of conflict.

When thinking about self-defense, the NMPD also studied the experience of other organizations and institutions. Postal Service employees already have pepper spray cans, while the State Police admitted that the number of aggressive incidents after the introduction of body cameras to the police had decreased significantly.

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