Rees Nigel, Tod Daniel, Fiorentino Francesca, O'Meara Peter, Williams Lauren, Williams Julia, Hawkes Claire
Pre Hospital Emergency Research Unit, Welsh Ambulance Service University NHS Trust, Swansea, UK
Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Science, Swansea University, Swansea, UK.
BMJ Open. 2025 Apr 25;15(4):e092949. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2024-092949.
To explore the Welsh public's views of violence and aggression (V&A) directed at EMS (emergency medical services) staff, awareness of policy changes and the reach of media campaigns.
DESIGN/SETTING/PARTICIPANTS: Survey involving non-probabilistic purposive sampling of 1010 Wales adults (aged 18+) from a matched panel, representative of the population, derived from a UK YouGov panel of >360 000 adults registered.
Most (62.5%) participants had heard of V&A directed towards EMS staff; 81.1% had heard about it through the media. 21.0% of participants had witnessed V&A towards EMS staff; younger participants were more likely to have witnessed an incident 18.7% via a social setting and 81.1% through the media. 90.4% disagreed with the statement that V&A towards EMS staff can be acceptable in some cases, and 53.3% were not aware of related media campaigns. Participants thought intoxication with alcohol (92.4%), drugs (90.5%) and altered mental status following illness and/or injury (84.3%) would likely contribute to V&A towards EMS staff. 22.0% of participants were aware of the Assaults on Emergency Workers Act. Although I thought the act was unlikely to deter perpetrators who were intoxicated with drugs (75.2%), alcohol (75.2%), with altered mental status following illness and/or injury (75.6%) or other member of the public (42.4%). Younger participants were more likely to think the act would deter those intoxicated with drugs, alcohol, with altered mental status following illness and/or injury and other members of the public. Those with social grades of C2/D/E thought the act was likely to deter those intoxicated with drugs.
There is good public awareness of V&A directed towards EMS staff in Wales who find it unacceptable. Our survey found limited awareness and perceived effectiveness of related legislation and media campaigns in the last 2 years. Participants thought legislation would not deter those intoxicated with drugs, alcohol or altered mental status. Therefore, we recommend further research to understand and develop evidence-based interventions for these groups of people. We also recommend amplifying messages targeted towards young people and through social settings where V&A may be encountered.
探讨威尔士公众对针对紧急医疗服务（EMS）工作人员的暴力与攻击行为（V&A）的看法、对政策变化的认知以及媒体宣传活动的覆盖范围。
设计/地点/参与者：采用非概率性目的抽样调查，从一个匹配小组中选取1010名威尔士成年人（18岁及以上），该小组代表了总体人群，源自英国YouGov超过36万注册成年人的面板。
大多数（62.5%）参与者听说过针对EMS工作人员的V&A行为；81.1%是通过媒体听说的。21.0%的参与者目睹过针对EMS工作人员的V&A行为；年轻参与者更有可能目睹此类事件，18.7%是在社交场合目睹，81.1%是通过媒体目睹。90.4%的参与者不同意在某些情况下针对EMS工作人员的V&A行为可以被接受这一说法，53.3%的参与者不知道相关媒体宣传活动。参与者认为酒精中毒（92.4%）、药物中毒（90.5%）以及疾病和/或受伤后精神状态改变（84.3%）可能导致针对EMS工作人员的V&A行为。22.0%的参与者知晓《紧急救援人员袭击法案》。尽管认为该法案不太可能威慑到药物中毒（75.2%）、酒精中毒（75.2%）、疾病和/或受伤后精神状态改变（75.6%）的犯罪者或其他公众（42.4%）。年轻参与者更有可能认为该法案会威慑到药物中毒、酒精中毒、疾病和/或受伤后精神状态改变的犯罪者以及其他公众。社会等级为C2/D/E的人认为该法案可能会威慑到药物中毒的犯罪者。
威尔士公众对针对EMS工作人员的V&A行为有较高认知，且认为这种行为不可接受。我们的调查发现，在过去两年中，对相关立法和媒体宣传活动的认知及感知效果有限。参与者认为立法无法威慑到药物中毒、酒精中毒或精神状态改变的人。因此，我们建议进行进一步研究，以了解并为这些人群制定基于证据的干预措施。我们还建议加强针对年轻人以及可能遇到V&A行为的社交场合的宣传信息。
