Prevalence and Characteristics of Violence against Paramedics in a Single Canadian Site.

Violence against paramedics has been described as a 'serious public health problem' but one that remains 'vastly underreported', owing to an organizational culture that stigmatizes reporting-hindering 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.

Women's Participation in Leadership Roles in a Single Canadian Paramedic Service.

INTRODUCTION: Like other public safety professions, paramedicine has historically been a male-dominated occupation. Although women are increasingly choosing paramedicine as a career, participation in leadership roles remains limited. Drawing on data from a comprehensive mental health survey, we describe the proportion of women in leadership in a single, large, urban paramedic service in Ontario, Canada. METHODS: We distributed an in-person, paper-based survey during the fall 2019 - winter 2020 continuing medical education sessions. Participating paramedics completed a demographic questionnaire alongside a battery of mental health screening tools. We assessed the demography of the workforce and explored differences in employment classification, educational achievement, clinician level (e.g., primary vs. advanced care), and participation in formal leadership roles along self-reported gender lines. RESULTS: Out of 607 paramedics attending, we received 600 completed surveys, with 11 excluded for missing data, leaving 589 for analysis and a 97% response rate. Women comprised 40% of the active-duty paramedic workforce, with an average of 8 years of experience. Compared to men, women were more than twice as likely to have university degrees (odds ratio [OR] 2.02, 95% compatibility interval [CI] 1.45-2.83), but almost half as likely to practice at the advanced care paramedic level (OR 0.61, 95% CI 0.42-0.88), and potentially less likely to be employed full-time (OR 0.77, 95% CI 0.54-1.09). Women were nearly 70% less likely to hold leadership roles in the service compared to men (OR 0.36, 95% CI 0.14-0.90), occupying 20% of leadership positions. CONCLUSION: Although paramedicine is witnessing an encouraging shift in the demography of its workforce, our results point to a potential under-representation of women in leadership roles. Future research should focus on identifying and ameliorating barriers to career advancement among women and other historically underrepresented people.