Various Articles, Interviews and Coverage of DT4EMS’ EVE
The unexpected abuse of Indy’s ambulance workers — and what’s being done about it
A woman twice the size and half the age of paramedic Linda Hodge-McKinney, 60, struck out with a fist during a medical run.
The woman — screaming and crying, refusing to answer questions — then threw a heavy box of medical supplies and lunged from the ambulance bed at Hodge-McKinney, who was trying to help her.
That 2013 attack, the worst of Hodge-McKinney’s career, is part of a bruising reality confronting Indianapolis EMS ambulance workers: Facing assaults is as much a part of the job as checking a patient’s blood pressure.
Since 2015, more than 60 Indianapolis paramedics and EMTs have been injured by patient attacks, according to Indianapolis EMS data. Nearly 80 percent of workers who responded to an agency survey said they felt threatened on a medical call. READ MORE AT THE SOURCE
Detroit Fire Department Addresses Violence Against EMS Providers Following Attack
Shortly after midnight on October 20, 2015, Kelly Adams and her partner, Alfredo Rojas, responded to a call for an ankle injury. They drove their rig to a part of the city where many of Detroit’s homeless population dwell and EMS calls are frequent.
Rojas performed an initial assessment on the female patient, while the patient’s companion hovered nearby and answered questions for her.
Rojas attempted to separate the patient from her overbearing companion, enraging the man, who suddenly punched him, then pulled out a box cutter and began attacking him. With only his bare hands to fend off the attack, Rojas received multiple defensive wounds.
Adams quickly grabbed the steel stepstool used to help patients climb into the ambulance and struck the attacker repeatedly. Frightened, the female patient moved away from the scene, as her companion, undeterred even after being struck by the stool, turned and attacked Adams. READ MORE HERE
A Moment in Time Blog Post
Lancaster, PA
KSIB Radio Interview
EMS workers train to take on dangerous situations
WATERVLIET, Mich. –
It’s a widespread problem that the public doesn’t really seem to notice, EMS workers being attacked on the job.
“Most people are like why would somebody want to attack a firefighter or paramedic? Not that it’s right and not that I agree but some people think well police officers are trying to take away my freedom or they’re criminals and that kind of thing,” said Brett Peine. “Firefighters and paramedics are there to help so why would anybody want to attack them?”
EMS-SAFETY-TRAINING ABC57 from Kip Teitsort on Vimeo.
Peine is the Director of EMS at Missouri Southern State University in Joplin, MO and he is also a DT4EMS instructor trainer.
Michiana Healthcare Education Center along with DT4EMS is holding training sessions for healthcare providers to prepare them on how to handle violent situations that develop on scene.
“Our program is being used throughout the country,” said Matt Quinn. “The DT4EMS is nationally and becoming more internationally known as a standard in self-defense training in the healthcare field.”
Medical workers are coming together from around the country for training.
“I didn’t know a lot coming in, but with the instructors here and the facility I’ve enjoyed everything,” said Damon Sutton.
Sutton is a Paramedic Lt. Detroit Fire Department EMS Division. He trains a lot of the new recruits that want to work on the ambulance.
READ MORE AND WATCH THE VIDEO AT THE SOURCE
WORKCOMP WIRE
Within the firefighter and EMS communities, there is growing interest in Escaping Violent Encounters training (EVE). (EVE) training for EMS/Fire is a liability-conscious, risk management best practice approach to patient and visitor assault prevention and response. The EVE training will assist in reducing the risk of assaults on staff, minimizes injuries to staff and patients, aid in controlling overall liability, while reducing FF/EMS fear of personal safety. It will also help to prevent negligence lawsuits and follows established national safety standards or your state equivalent. Trainees of this program have reported it to be empowering and that the training supports a culture of resilience to performing their jobs in a pre-hospital environment. DT4EMS’ EVE Course Covered by WORKCOMPWIRE (A workers’ compensation news source)
WGEM News Coverage DT4EMS
Cabell County EMS (WV)
Defensive Tactics for Fire and EMS Personnel? by EPIC Tactical
How often do you hear about a Police Officer or Highway Patrolman injured on the job after being assaulted by an assailant? In today’s society, it seems like it is becoming more and more the “norm” unfortunately. But what about Fire and EMS personnel being assaulted? Studies show that Fire and EMS Personnel are being assaulted at an alarming rate. According to the Bureau of Labor statistics, an assault on a healthcare worker is the most common source of non-fatal injury or illness requiring days off from work in the healthcare and social assistance industry. (EMS World Article) Again, why are these assaults not being reported and nobody knows about these incidents. I’m even talking about my peers that have been assaulted, yet I had no idea.
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) — When disaster strikes, they’re the men and women who jump into action to save lives. But recently, it’s been EMS workers who have become the target of attacks.
“EMS providers are being attacked, they’re being assaulted,” Cabell County EMS Director of Education Marsha Knight said. “We’ve had providers that have had broken bones. We’ve had providers that have needed stitches. You’re just not sure what you’re going to walk into anymore.”
Cabell County EMS isn’t alone as this issue has become a problem nation-wide. That’s why this week, Cabell County EMS workers are learning self-defense tactics they can use while out on a call.
“The numbers are just staggering,” DT4EMS Trainer Kip Teitsort said. “As a general rule, it’s 52% of EMS providers have been injured due to violence on the job. Mostly it’s punches, kicks, spit on, chokes. Everything from broken jaws, broken ribs, broken fingers, bites. This is what the average health care provider faces.” SOURCE
(WBIR – CLINTON) Anderson County EMS crews are learning some tips that could keep them safe in case of a violent encounter.
EMS Director Nathan Sweet is bringing in DT4EMS, a national self defense training group. The training will focus on giving first responders an upper hand.
“Oftentimes, things can escalate verbally that can go a lot of different directions. We have seen everything from our crews being bit, scratched, being pushed, being kicked, being swung at, There are sometimes we just have to get out,” said Sweet. Source:
DT4EMS @ Michiana Healthcare Education Center (MI)
DT4EMS Coverage Lancaster, PA
- WABI Channel 5 Coverage of DT4EMS’ EVE class.
First Responders are trained to keep us safe.But whose protecting them from potentially violent patients?Joy Hollowell sat in on a training class, where fire fighters and paramedics learned how to save their own lives while saving others.====Crystal Bagley is a paramedic with the Eddington Fire Department. She and her co-workers are well aware of the hazards that come along with the job, including potential attacks by the very people they’re trying to help.”I’ve had patients grab my wrist,” she says. “We actually had a provider that is very near and dear to us, that was assaulted by a patient.”A study shows more than half of all EMS personnel in the United States are injured on the job due to an assault.”It’s like the dirty little secret in EMS,” explains Bagley. “Nobody wants to talk about it because they think it’s part of our job to be assaulted and just take it.”That’s why the Eddington fire department hired Kip Teitsort. He runs a nationwide program teaching providers how to protect themselves when responding to a call for help. Teitsort started dt4ems after the ambulance he was working in, was carjacked.”For the first 10 years that I did this, I was laughed at and said- there’s no need for this. And now for about the last 8 years, I’m suddenly a subject matter expert.”Teitsort says less than half of the assaults on health care workers are actually reported.”There’s this fundamental misunderstanding of a patient versus an attacker,” says Teitsort. “So (the provider) doesn’t always report a criminal assault to the law enforcement.”Teitsort instructs health care workers to recognize the warning signs of an impending attack.” MORE AT WABI
EMS1.com Articles by Kip Teitsort
- 4 ways to prepare EMTs for violent patients
If you’re attacked on the job, be mentally prepared, physically ready, press savvy, and able to justify your actions in court. - How Role Playing Can Help EMS Prepare for Assaults for EMS1
- Custody or Care for EMS1
- Escaping Violent Encounters- Choke Escape for EMS1 (VIDEO)
- ESCAPING VIOLENT ENCOUNTERS- Assessment L for EMS1 (VIDEO)
- Escaping Violent Encounters- The Parry (Video)
- Escaping Violent Encounters- Bent Arm Check (Video)
- Escaping Violent Encounters- Cover and Concealment (Video)
- EVE- Six D’s from DT4EMS (Video)
- EVE- Assault Response Guidelines (Video) with EMS1
- *****VIDEO ARCHIVE ON EMS1*****
JEMS Articles
Skip Kirkwood writes: EMS Providers Need Scene Safety Training for JEMS “One guy who’s doing something about this issue is a gentleman named Kip Teitsort, a paramedic-turned-police-officer-turned-educator out of Norwood, Mo. Tietsort runs an organization called DT4EMS (Defensive Tactics for EMS). He’s developed a variety of training programs, the most recent of which is EVE (escaping violent encounters) for fire and EMS personnel.
EMSWorld Articles by Kip Teitsort
- Real World Skills for Scene Safety Part 1 EMSWorld
- Fixing the Fear for EMSWorld
- Trust Your Gut for EMSWorld
- EMSWorld Article Skip Kirkwood and Kip Teitsort
Various Interviews and Podcasts
- In this week’s Inside EMS Podcast, hosts Chris Cebollero and Kelly Grayson talk with guest Kip Tietsort, at DT4EMS on managing violent patients.They discuss two Glendale, Ariz. firefighters accused of using excessive force by swearing and punching a patient strapped to a gurney to defend themselves. Part of the scene was captured by a bystander’s cell phone video.The firefighters were suspected without pay rather than fired because they had not been trained how to handle a violent situation. Fire Chief Mark Burdick said policy allows firefighters to protect themselves with any means necessary if police are not on scene.“You can’t blame them if you don’t train them,” Tietsort said.Emotion plays a huge role when it comes to violent patients, and assaults often start with a patient who is drunk or who has taken drugs, he said. Listen here EMS1 Podcast
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EMS instructors attend Escaping Violent Encounters course at MSSU
Updated: Jun 17, 2014 11:52 AM EDT
Joplin, MO (SNS) – EMS educators have gathered on the campus of Missouri Southern State University this week for a class designed to help them guide students through situations in which they may need to protect themselves and their patients. SOURCE KOAM7 - JOPLIN, MO.— A training session called Defensive Tactics for E.M.S was held at Missouri Southern State University today. ABC12 (Four States News) Coverage of DT4EMS Instructor Course
- At the Ready Magazine Interview regarding DT4EMS’ EVE
- Inside EMS Podcast (EMS1)
- BLOG TALK Radio Interview Regarding violence in emergency medicine.
- Reedsburg Times-Press DT4EMS coverage of a class.
- WKOW Madison covers DT4EMS Class coverage of a class.
- Fox in Bangor Coveage of DT4EMS coverage of a class.
- News Telegram (MA) Covereage of DT4EMS coverage of a class.
- EMS Classroom Conundrums DT4EMS and Dr. Mike Abernathy Podcast on Excited Delirium.
- Dayton Daily News on the issues of arming staff with firearms.
- WABI Channel 5 Coverage of DT4EMS’ EVE class.
EDDINGTON, Maine (NEWS CENTER) — Each day emergency medical services workers across Maine take care of the sick and injured. Their jobs are vital but they also can be risky.
Across the nation EMTs and paramedics are increasingly becoming the victims of attacks and assaults. Those attacks mostly come from patients who are sick or under the influence of drugs and alcohol. SOURCE: WLBZ Channel 2
Violence in medicine is a fact that many professionals in the field are painfully aware exists, but don’t openly discuss, according to Kip Teitsort, founder of a company that specializes in training health-care providers to recognize potentially dangerous situations and how to escape violent encounters.
“It’s a very dangerous profession. Violence in medicine is swept under the rug. We’ve got to shed light on the dirty little secret of violence in medicine,” said Teitsort, who spent 25 years in the emergency medical service (EMS) in one form or fashion. “What the average person doesn’t realize is that the leading cause of injury to a paramedic, nurse, an EMT or firefighter on the medical scene is actually violence. Not needle sticks, not being run over by a car, it’s being attacked by a violent individual.”
Teitsort, who established DT4EMS in 1996, winces when the term “patient” is used to describe who is turning violent when EMS personnel arrive.
“If you look at a textbook definition, a patient is someone that is wanting your help,” he said. “What we find is that the people who are attacking paramedics, EMTs and nurses are somebody we shouldn’t be calling a patient. It’s usually a drunk or drugged individual that is attacking them. Not a normal person we would consider a patient.” READ MORE HERE: Hannibal Courier Post
Chicago Coverage of Violence against EMS (although DT4EMS not specifically mentioned, you can see pictures from our website in their coverage as well as a link to our site )