Evaluating the Rate of Violence Against Pre-hospital Emergency Personnel; a Cross-sectional Study

Workplace violence is a global problem the prevalence of which is increasing. All healthcare personnel are subject to violence, but considering the special conditions of pre-hospital emergency, its personnel are exposed to a higher rate of workplace violence compared to other healthcare workers. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study and the study population consisted of pre-hospital emergency personnel of East-Azerbaijan province, Iran. The sampling method was simple random sampling. Results: A total of 77 participants were included all of whom were male. The average age of the participants was 34.4 ± 7.5 years and their average work experience was 9.58 ± 5.7 years. More than half of the pre-hospital emergency personnel had faced violence by patients twice a week or more throughout the previous year. In 32.5% of the cases, pre-hospital emergency medical technicians had experienced violence by a patient’s friend or relative. Conclusion: The rate of violence against pre-hospital emergency medical technicians is high.