{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,1]],"date-time":"2026-10-01T19:28:18Z","timestamp":1790882898314,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":45,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"17","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,8,24]],"date-time":"2023-08-24T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1692835200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Region of Peel, Department of Health Services, Division of Paramedic Services"},{"name":"University of Windsor"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJERPH"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Violence against paramedics has been described as a \u2018serious public health problem\u2019 but one that remains \u2018vastly underreported\u2019, owing to an organizational culture that stigmatizes reporting\u2013hindering efforts at risk mitigation in addition to creating a gap in research. Leveraging a novel reporting process developed after extensive stakeholder consultation and embedded within the electronic patient care record, our objective was to provide a descriptive profile of violence against paramedics in a single paramedic service in Ontario, Canada. Between 1 February 2021 and 31 January 2023, a total of 374 paramedics in Peel Region (48% of the workforce) generated 941 violence reports, of which 40% documented physical (n = 364) or sexual (n = 19) assault. The violence was typically perpetrated by patients (78%) and primarily took place at the scene of the 9-1-1 call (47%); however, violent behavior frequently persisted or recurred while in transit to hospital and after arrival. Collectively, mental health, alcohol, or drug use were listed as contributing circumstances in 83% of the violence reports. In all, 81 paramedics were physically harmed because of an assault. On average, our data correspond to a paramedic filing a violence report every 18 h, being physically assaulted every 46 h, and injured every 9 days.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph20176644","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,8,25]],"date-time":"2023-08-25T08:42:20Z","timestamp":1692952940000},"page":"6644","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":18,"title":["Prevalence and Characteristics of Violence against Paramedics in a Single Canadian Site"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"20","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6955-5387","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Justin","family":"Mausz","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Peel Regional Paramedic Services, Fernforest Division, 1600 Bovaird Drive East, Brampton, ON L6R 4R5, Canada"},{"name":"Department of Family and Community Medicine, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, The University of Toronto, 500 University Avenue, Toronto, ON M5G 1V7, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mandy","family":"Johnston","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Peel Regional Paramedic Services, Tomken Division, 6825 Tomken Road, Mississauga, ON L5T 1N4, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Dominique","family":"Arseneau-Bruneau","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Peel Regional Paramedic Services, Fernforest Division, 1600 Bovaird Drive East, Brampton, ON L6R 4R5, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6473-5397","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alan M.","family":"Batt","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Health Sciences, Queen\u2019s University, 99 University Avenue, Kingston, ON K7L 3N6, Canada"},{"name":"Department of Paramedicine, Monash University, Building H, 47-49 Moorooduc Hwy, Frankston, VIC 3199, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9942-3203","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Elizabeth A.","family":"Donnelly","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Social Work, The University of Windsor, 167 Ferry Street, Windsor, ON N9A 0C5, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,8,24]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"54","DOI":"10.1177\/0706743717723825","article-title":"Mental disorder symptoms among public safety personnel in Canada","volume":"63","author":"Carleton","year":"2018","journal-title":"Can. 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