Good afternoon, Mr. Chair, and members of the committee.
I would like to start off by thanking you for the invitation to appear here today and for the opportunity to contribute to a crucially important discussion on violence faced by health care workers, and specific to my community, violence faced by paramedics.
It's my distinct honour to be here today as the president of the Paramedic Chiefs of Canada. That's an association that represents paramedic chiefs and service chiefs across all of our provinces and territories.
I was to present today with the Paramedic Association of Canada as well, which represents our practitioners. Unfortunately, they were not able to be here. But we share this message that we're bringing to you today.
We're pleased to participate in this national dialogue on this important issue that's crucial to the safety of paramedics in Canada on the front line, in our communications centres and in our hospitals, and by extension, the safety of Canadians.
We can't address this issue without also including the paramedic service organizations, their leadership that works with paramedics each and every day, as well as the families that need to be included in this dialogue, as they are such important social supports to paramedics.
In Canada, there are over 40,000 paramedics who stand ready to respond to people in need and to save lives. Unfortunately, each day, as they perform these tasks with compassion and dedication, these same individuals are at very high risk of being victims of violence and abuse. Regrettably, paramedics are often the target of physical and verbal violence, bullying, threats, sexual assault and sexual harassment. Physical violence includes, but is not limited to, pushing, punching, scratching, kicking, biting, slapping and the use of weapons. Acts of violence and abuse may come from patients, the families of the patients and even bystanders at emergency scenes. Sadly, all too often paramedics are victims of violence by the very patients they're trying to care for.
Internationally, studies have found that between 55% and 83% of paramedics have experienced threats or violence during the performance of their duties annually. In a 2014 study of Canadian paramedics, 75% reported experiencing violence of some sort, 74% reporting multiple forms of violence annually. Of the 1,676 paramedics who participated in this study, 67% reported verbal abuse, 41% reported intimidation, 26% reported physical assault, 4% reported sexual harassment and 3% reported sexual assault. Sadly, these paramedics reported that they felt violence was part of the job.
Violence experienced by paramedic personnel has many consequences. It has been linked to psychological injury in the form of stress, anxiety, post-traumatic stress and burnout. Violence has been linked to physical injuries, resulting in time lost from work in between 17% and 32% of the cases. It has also been linked to the intent to leave the profession early. Violence against paramedics jeopardizes the quality of patient care that paramedics strive to deliver. It also leads to immense financial loss in the health sector, not to mention the indirect and direct costs to the paramedics themselves and their families.
Violence and abuse against paramedics in unacceptable. The Paramedic Chiefs of Canada supports a zero tolerance position on all forms of violence and abuse in all areas of the Canadian paramedic community. There's an immediate need to intervene on this crucial issue.
Our association recommends that interventions to prevent violence need to occur at multiple levels.
First, we feel we need to sponsor and support research. Research is necessary to obtain a better understanding of the scope of the problem, to evaluate the impact of violence on personnel and to assess means of mitigation, as we heard earlier today. Currently, there is only one peer-reviewed article that examines the issue in Canadian paramedics. This is insufficient.
Second, evidence-informed strategies must be developed and training provided for the management of violent patients and situations for front-line personnel.
Third, we must increase public awareness of the human and financial impacts of this issue among health care workers and paramedics.
Fourth, consideration must be given to changes in policy and legislation—as we also heard earlier—to protect paramedics and health care workers through increased punitive measures where appropriate.
We certainly welcome the opportunity to work with the federal government and partners to assist in coordination, research and communication to ensure the safety of all paramedics and health care workers is addressed.
Thank you.