The impact of security precautions on the number of violent incidents within the emergency department.

摘要

The purpose of this study was to compare the number of violent incidents 1 year before and 1 year after implementation of additional security measures within the emergency department at a large, county, teaching hospital. Verbal incidents (direct threats or intimidation) and physical incidents (assaults including punching, kicking, spitting, slapping, etc.) were compared separately and in combination. The results showed that there were statistically significant decreases (p