Why hospital staff practice self-defense | tagesschau.de

As of: October 6th, 2024 7:54 a.m

Violent attacks on hospital workers are increasing. At the Leverkusen Clinic, employees receive training to prepare them for dangerous situations. The trainer is a chief physician and martial artist.

David Zajonz

“I’ve been waiting for my prescription for 30 minutes!” shouts chief physician Marc Busche to his colleague. The situation is part of a training seminar at the Leverkusen Clinic. Busche plays an angry patient, his colleague a nurse. When the colleague asks him to sit down, the “patient” hits her in the face.

The situation is played out in two scenarios. In the first variant, the colleague is unprotected and is staggered by the blow. In the second variant, she protects herself by pressing her arm close to her face. After fending off the blow, she pushes the attacker away forcefully.

Chief physician Marc Busche during self-defense training with hospital employees.

Martial artist in smock

Several hospital employees are standing around the two of them. Busche explains to them what is important: distance from the attacker, arms in front of the body and a secure stance. Marc Busche is not only the head physician for plastic surgery, he has also been doing martial arts for more than 30 years and leads the violence protection training at the clinic.

The climate in the hospital has definitely become harsher in recent years, he says. For example, patients or their relatives become aggressive because they find the waiting time in the emergency room to be too long.

According to the chief physician, security services at clinics certainly make sense, but if a patient suddenly freaks out, it takes too long for them to get there. That’s why the Leverkusen Clinic has been offering violence protection training for around two years. Initially, the focus was on training the staff in the emergency room, but now the courses are being expanded to include all employees.

NRW: Sharp increase in acts of violence

Not all violent incidents at clinics are reported and recorded statistically, but the NRW police crime statistics show a significant increase. In 2019 there were 1,218 acts of violence in North Rhine-Westphalia hospitals; last year there were 1,705 cases. In addition to bodily harm, these acts of violence also include robbery and civil liberties.

A beating attack in Essen about two weeks ago caused a particular stir, in which six clinic employees were injured. The employees in Leverkusen follow such news very closely, says Alissa Gallo. She works at the emergency room reception “right on the front lines,” as she says.

“We often talk about it in the team and are afraid that it will happen to us soon.” The young woman says she encounters verbal violence in the form of insults and threats more often in her everyday work. She had already been spat on by a patient while on duty.

Also dealing with knife attacks is practiced

In the violence protection training, she learns, among other things, how to protect herself from blows and how to free herself from chokeholds. The use of knives is also discussed. Disarming a knife attacker is dangerous and almost hopeless, says training manager Busche. “The first rule is always: If I can, I run away.” If this is not possible, he recommends using auxiliary objects, such as a broomstick, a chair or even items of clothing.

For demonstration purposes, he takes his doctor’s coat and uses it to hit his colleague, who is standing in front of him armed with a toy knife. “I hit the head and the eyes and can then distract the attacking person so that I can run away,” shouts Busche as he swings his smock. Alternatively, he recommends throwing coins or other objects at the knife attacker.

The employees find the training at their clinic useful. But it’s also sad that it’s even necessary, some of them say. Because actually her job is to help other people.

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