That is a very, very good question. Our right to refuse unsafe work has an extremely high threshold.
Now, obviously we have the ability through 911 and flagged addresses...or whether it be the police notifying us that there are weapons involved. We will typically stage in those situations and not go there until police are there and clear the scene. But once we're in a situation where it's unsafe, it's no holds barred. How do you get out of that situation? How do you deter the situation from getting worse? How do you de-escalate the situation?
Those are all skills and abilities that come with either experience or that are just situational. We don't know. That's where this comes into play. It's hard for me in the moment to just call up and say, “Hey, I'm done; I'm going to tap out of here”, or “Just please don't stab me; I'm going to go over here”. It's just not possible sometimes.
Yes, if my life is under threat and they're telling me to go into that place where someone is holding a gun, then I have the ability to say no, but often we don't know that situation is there until we get in there.