Speeches and Transcripts

Professor Owler, Today, Hospital staff safety

Transcript: AMA President Professor Brian Owler, Today, 14 January 2016

Subject: Emergency Department staff safety and Ice

Watch: https://youtu.be/1_qzxBXjk4k 


DAVID CAMPBELL:         A police officer remains in intensive care after a patient with a history of ice addiction allegedly stole his gun and shot him at a Sydney hospital. The attack has reignited the call for increased security for our emergency doctors. We have the President of the Australian Medical Association, Professor Brian Owler, here with us this morning. Thanks for joining us Professor Brian Owler.

BRIAN OWLER:     A pleasure.

DAVID CAMPBELL:         We are here at a crisis point now aren't we in terms of security. I mean this is starting to get out of control. It was a very alarming story yesterday. 

BRIAN OWLER:     Very alarming and it actually could have been a lot worse than what it was, obviously. We know that violence in our emergency departments has been a problem for our doctors and nurses and other healthcare workers, but this new problem of ice has really raised the level to a greater height, and the drug really causes people to be very difficult to control, and particularly when they're in these episodes of psychosis. And so, yes, we do need to review the security in our emergency departments to make sure our doctors and nurses are well protected.

DAVID CAMPBELL:         So we now know that ice is really the leading cause of a lot of this violence. What is the situation when someone comes in and they are - let's say they're very high, they're having a high reaction to this drug of ice. What do you guys do? What do you have to do and what is your, I guess, your protocol in this?

BRIAN OWLER:     Well, that will vary by hospital obviously, and it depends on the patient's particular circumstances. I mean, violence in emergency departments is not new and alcohol has always been a major factor, but the new drug ice means that people are even more difficult to control than previously. It usually means that we need to have the help of our security guards to control people and sometimes restrain people until we can actually sometimes sedate them for their safety as well as the safety of the healthcare workers and the security as well.

DAVID CAMPBELL:         So how can we better protect our doctors and our paramedics? They're the frontline here.

BRIAN OWLER:     Well they are, and I think we need to make sure that we review the security, particularly make sure that there are ample security guards in our emergency departments and that there are Rapid Response teams that can subdue people when they are in these sorts of situations. The calls for people to be armed in our emergency departments, I think, is a very bad way to go. We need less guns, not more, in our society, and as we saw through this incident, it actually raises the dangers for people, including the doctors, nurses and other patients.

DAVID CAMPBELL:         So you don't believe we should be arming security guards in emergency wards?

BRIAN OWLER:     I think that's a very dangerous path to go down and I think this incident illustrates exactly why that is. What we need to do is make sure that we have ample security, that we have the proper resources so that we can protect our doctors and nurses. That doesn't mean more guns, we need to look at other ways that we can protect them.

DAVID CAMPBELL:         Alright, Professor Brian Owler thank you so much for coming in today. 


14 January 2016

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