In a busy hospital emergency room, health care professionals administered Narcan to a patient suffering from a drug overdose. The measure revived him, but he was furious with them for interfering with his “high.” He grabbed one of the physicians, Dr. Leigh Vinocur, by the throat and began choking her - an assault that ended only when a radiology technician was able to get the man in a choke hold and subdue him. Vincour was left with bruises on her throat and broken blood vessels in her eyes.
The violence experienced by Vinocur, MD, FACEP, was, unfortunately, not an isolated incident. New research and polling data from the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) – whose Emergency Department Violence Committee Vinocur has chaired – provides insights into how common emergency department violence is in U.S. hospitals and how it directly and indirectly affects patient care.