If you don’t train them, don’t blame them.

There is no other way to put it… When faced with a violent encounter, staff WILL respond. How they respond is a matter of training, or lack of it.

Related: Right or Wrong

It is unfair, maybe even immoral, to expect staff to act a certain way without training them “how- to” in the first place. With the use of force in medicine, specifically the way staff are treated, has gone under-acknowledged for so long, street providers had no choice but to seek out information on how to deal with violence and the use-of-force while on the job.

So either train them or not. Just back them, not blame them, when they act in a way that any human may act when forced to make a decision under stress.

The flip-side is true too. Should you train them, and they continue to act like a jack-booted enforcer, separate, and rest easy you did right by them AND the public you serve.

Hopefully this short clip (below) will motivate some to at least acknowledge the pendulum is swinging far to the opposite side.

 

Don’t Train, Don’t Blame from Kip Teitsort on Vimeo.