Verbal Violence against Emergency Medical Service Workers at the Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences

Occupational violence can have a negative effect and mental burden on the way emergency medical service personnel provide services. The aim of this study was to determine verbal violence against emergency medical service personnel and related factors at the Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences.

This descriptive-analytical cross-sectional study was conducted among emergency medical service personnel of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences in 2019. Totally, 264 individuals were selected using the systematic random sampling method. The data were collected using the Occupational Violence Questionnaire and Goldenberg GHQ-28 General Health Questionnaire. The data were analyzed using SPSS.

During the past year, 240 emergency medical service personnel experienced occupational violence in the following forms: verbal (65%), cultural (6.9%), and sexual (3.1%). There was a statistically significant relationship between verbal violence and marital status (p=0.049) as well as age (p=0.04), and crisis in the past 6 months of the personnel (p=0.02). Patient companions were the main perpetrators of violence, and the most common response to violence was to ask the assailant to calm down. The most common violence against staff in the last mission was verbal and cultural violence. There was a statistically significant relationship between violence during the last mission and the type of employment, age and professional experience of the personnel.

Considering the predictability and controllability of violence, in addition to improving training, prevention methods, reforms related to the factors that cause violence, and the implementation of courses and workshops can be considered as effective steps to reduce violence against emergency medical personnel.