Epidemiology of unarmed threats in the emergency department

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the precipitants, subject characteristics, nature and outcomes of unarmed threats in the ED. Methods: A 12 month prospective survey of security codes precipitated by an unarmed threat (Code Grey). Results: Data were collected on 151 subjects. The Code Grey rate was 3.2/1000 ED presentations. They were most frequent on Saturday and in the late evening/early morning. There were verbal or physical threats of violence made to staff on 104 occasions (69%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 61-76) and a perceived threat of patient self-harm on 114 occasions (76%, 95% CI 68-82). Median time to be seen by a doctor was 8 min (interquartile range [IQR]: 2-21 min) and median time from ..