Acts of violence targeting the professionals who staff America's emergency departments has gotten significantly worse since the COVID pandemic's onset — with serious implications for the future provision of emergency medicine. Those are among the conclusions from a new poll conducted for the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) and reported September 22 in a virtual press briefing.
Among 2712 physicians responding to the ACEP poll conducted from July 25 to August 1, 45% said that violence in the ED has increased greatly and 40% said it has increased somewhat over the past 5 years, while 89% said they believe this violence has harmed patient care. And 55% reported that they personally had been assaulted in the ED — some of them on a weekly or more frequent basis.
That number is up from 49% in a similar poll conducted for ACEP in 2018One third (33%) of respondents said they were injured on the job from a workplace assault, up from 27% in 2018. Reported incidents include verbal assaults with the threat of violence as well as being hit, slapped, spit on, punched, kicked, scratched or bit, sexual assaults and assaults with a weapon like a knife or gun.
