Population Health Research Brief Series

Violence against emergency medical service (EMS) workers contributes to high rates of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, burnout, and suicide risk in the field, but most incidents are never formally reported.

This brief describes the absence of a national reporting system for EMS and the workplace culture that discourages workers from speaking up.

The authors describe how, unlike law enforcement, EMS workers lack federal legal protections and a standardized way to report violent incidents, leaving agencies and policymakers without the data needed to protect them.