Emergency departments are fight zones

Enough is enough ... Violent drunks at hospital emergency departments are attacking doctors and nurses. Picture: Supplied Source: Supplied

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EMERGENCY department doctors have been knocked unconscious and pregnant nurses threatened with being punched in the stomach as drunk patients turn hospitals into places of violence.

More than nine in ten emergency nurses and doctors have experienced physical assaults and threats from drunk patients in the last 12 months, a survey of 2,000 emergency medicos by the Australian College for Emergency Medicine has found.

Doctors are urging politicians to restrict the opening times of places selling alcohol to curb the violence in hospitals.

Up to one in three emergency department presentations in some hospitals are alcohol related.

"Hospitals were once places of quiet dignity. Now they bear witness to behaviour that would not be tolerated at 4am in a nightclub," one doctor told the survey.

Another doctor told the survey he was assaulted and knocked unconscious by a drunk patient.

"I was put in my own resuscitation room with concussion and vomiting. I had residual effects for several weeks following. The patient was arrested in the ED and when asked why he hit

the doctor his reply was "because no-one bought me a *bleep* sandwich", the doctor said.

Another respondent ED nurse said: "I was obviously pregnant. An alcohol affected patient threatened to punch me in the stomach — in front of his wife and kids."

Dr Diana Egerton-Warburton, the ED physician who conducted the survey, says she works in a suburban hospital and in the past few weeks doctors there have been assaulted, punched, spat on and vomited on by drunk patients.

"If an alcohol affected patient has a head injury you have to look into their eyes and I've been kissed when that happens," she said.

Drunk patient tried to attack him recently ... Australian Medical Association vice president, Dr Steve Parnis. Picture: Herald Sun Source: HeraldSun

Australian Medical Association vice president and emergency physician Dr Steve Parnis says he was recently threatened by a screaming drunk patient.

"The security team was off dealing with a mental health case and this patient was hurling verbal abuse at me and lunged at me and tried to strike me with an IV fluid pole," he said.

A neurosurgeon was stabbed in the main entrance to the hospital six months ago, he said.

Almost every (98%) of the 2,000 emergency doctors and nurses in the survey had experienced alcohol related verbal aggression from patients in the last twelve months.

A further 92 per cent had experienced alcohol related physical violence or threats from patients in the last twelve months.

Almost nine in ten said they felt unsafe due to the presence of alcohol-affected patients and that they had a negative effect on the workload.

The presence of drunks in the emergency department meant the care of other patients was negatively affected, they said.

"Its time for policy makers and society to say, "Enough is Enough". This violence is preventable with good public health policies, "Dr Eberton-Warburton said.

COMMENT BELOW: Have you witnessed violent patients in hospital?

Resembling violence intolerable at a nightclub at 4am ... Hospital emergency departments are filled with violent drunk patients. Source: Supplied

Australian College Emergency Medicine president Dr Anthony Cross says its time for politicians to act.

The college wants earlier closing times for venues selling alcohol trialled in Newcastle and the Sydney CBD rolled out nationally to curb alcohol related violence.

They also want resources to run a brief intervention program that would see alcohol-affected patients who had attended ED sent an SMS the following weekend reminding them about the consequences of their drunken behaviour and asking them to drink responsibly in future.

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