From healthcare personnel to police officers and firefighters, emergency workers are increasingly facing aggression when on duty. While some form of aid is in sight for medical staff, over-arching solutions are still lacking.
Over the past ten years, the number of official reports related to healthcare workers being beaten or injured while on duty has increased by more than half, from around 194 in 2012 to 284 in 2021, according to federal police figures reported by De Standaard on Tuesday morning. In the first six months of last year, this figure already stood at 189.
Especially during the pandemic, the cases of aggression against medical staff worsened, Geert Berden, coordinator of a working group on aggression in care, told Belga News Agency. This trend was confirmed by international surveys and one carried out by Het Belang van Limburg in 2022.
Already last August, emergency workers raised the alarm that the number of violent incidents was on the rise and demanded the Federal Government and regional authorities come up with a concrete action plan to protect staff against such acts of aggression.
At the time, Berden called for a central registry where all reports are collected, a working group to examine assaults in the care sector and a website where caregivers can find all the information on this subject. On Tuesday, he confirmed that a website will be launched this month on which healthcare staff and institutions can (anonymously) report aggression in a "neutral environment."
The online hotline will likely be launched within two weeks, however, it will be tailored to Dutch-speaking care personnel. It is hoped the platform will also help better take stock of acts of aggression sector-wide. Meanwhile, some hospitals are also launching campaigns against aggression in healthcare themselves.
All emergency staff affected
While many paramedics, doctors and nurses were increasingly victimised during the New Year weekend, they were not alone, as several cases of violence against police officers and firefighters made headlines. In Antwerp, Brussels and Willebroek, among other places, they were targeted with fireworks and other projectiles. A similar reporting platform for these workers has not yet been announced.
Home Affairs Minister Annelies Verlinden on Monday called for zero tolerance of such incidents, while Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne noted that the strict zero tolerance for violence against police officers would be extended to acts of rebellion, and is seeking an accelerated introduction of an automatic penalty enhancement for violence against "people with social functions."
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However, this punitive approach fails to take into account that most of the acts of violence against this type of staff are often the result of a situation escalating, meaning the punishment will often not be on the mind of the perpetrator if acting in the spur of the moment, and therefore may not deter them.
Additionally, many emergency service personnel aren't always eager to come forward, as the victim's name will be mentioned in the official report, meaning the perpetrator can seek revenge. At the Brussels fire brigade, this is already possible internally, to keep the threshold to report as low as possible.
